Jolly Pumpkin Noel de Calabaza

Aroma: 7 | Appearance: 8 | Mouthfeel: 7 | Flavor: 7 | Overall: 7

Pours barely translucent sepia with a fair parchment head. Aroma yields caramel, toasted malt and sweet fruity tones. Flavor presents tart tropical and citrus, toasted malt, a caramel hint. Texture features fair body and peppy fizz with a woody finish. Noel, noel!

Aroma: 7 | Appearance: 8 | Mouthfeel: 7 | Flavor: 8 | Overall: 7

I had this beer on tap at Max's on Broadway in Baltimore on Dec. 26 2011. This beer had the horse blanket aroma that I love so much and a nice tartness. Tasted much like a Flanders Red. I would have this again.

Aroma: 7 | Appearance: 7 | Mouthfeel: 6 | Flavor: 7 | Overall: 7

750 ml bottle, blend 3, courtesy of Cardinal Pub & Bar, Stavanger. Hazy dark brown colour, huge off-white head. Strong sourish aroma of red wine vinegar, lemon, farmhouse, spices and hops. Sour flavour, some malts, hints of brown kandij sugar, oak, moderate hops. Okay, but I’m not excited.

Aroma: 7 | Appearance: 7 | Mouthfeel: 7 | Flavor: 6 | Overall: 7

Had this a few times over the years .. . Pours a hazy dirty tan .. great foam, great lacing .. . flavours of dark fruit skin, hay, oak, funk, weird trash can chocolate, and over ripened mushy dark fruit .. . damn,Bohn, what happened .. . Another good JP offering and quite the different winter warmer .. . What's this? An egg? - You know, that may be worth something. .

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 8 | Mouthfeel: 6 | Flavor: 7 | Overall: 7

Bottled@Konttori, Tampere. Amber colour, beige big head. Aroma is sourness, fruits, alcohol, some spices and quite much wooden notes as well. Flavour is sour wooden notes along with caramel malts, spices, earth and quite fruity as well. Smoothens up as it gets warmer.

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 9 | Mouthfeel: 8 | Flavor: 8 | Overall: 8

this one was nice. had the trademark jolly pumpkin funky sour thing going on, but more complexity than their other beers save for the la roja. fruity yeast, sweet malt, a touch of hop bitterness, and lots of barrel funk. dark and cloudy...a very nice winter brew.

Aroma: 9 | Appearance: 8 | Mouthfeel: 8 | Flavor: 9 | Overall: 8

Beer 10 of my 12 Beers of Christmas. Blend 3, 2009. Tulip glass. Pours a slight hazy Coca-Cola brown with a massive and sustained cream foamy head and heavy lacing. Great carbonation. Slightly sour and funky-yeasty aroma with pears, tart apples and cherries, with some malts and a bit of the oaken tannins. Taste is slightly tart but smooth with fruits - apples and cherries - and a yeasty funk with very slight oaken vanilla. ABV very well hidden. Very nice one for my first Jolly Pumpkin brew.

Aroma: 7 | Appearance: 7 | Mouthfeel: 7 | Flavor: 7 | Overall: 7

Heavy carbonation calls for a gentle pour. The body is a dark wood stain and the aroma and flavor both have that touch of sourness that all Jolly Pumpkin beers have. Nuts and woods come from the dark malt.

Aroma: 9 | Appearance: 8 | Mouthfeel: 9 | Flavor: 9 | Overall: 8

Batch 331. Aroma is sour with lactic notes as well as tart with some Belgian funky notes as well as Brett which is typical of this Microbrewery and offers some ripened fruit esters that come through. Appearance is a murky brownish to reddish in color when held to the light with a well-carbonated head on top that is also typical and is full-bodied and a very faint light pink in color and leaves lacing on the glass. Mouthfeel is light-bodied to my surprise and is very complex with spicy balance and has a palate that is sharp and clean and is wet-like. Flavor is funky as well as wine-like and tart with some sour notes and offer lactic overtones with some balance acidity with an aftertaste that is spicy and is sharp and crisp with a finish that is dry-like and very good and reminds me of the Lambic variety of Belgian ales such as Rose de Gambrinus by not nearly as pretentious. Overall, a very fine ale from Jolly Pumpkin and a great blend resulting in very complex drinking fare and worth the price tag if you come across this one the next time you are in your favorite "Better Beer Store"; recommended.

Aroma: 10 | Appearance: 8 | Mouthfeel: 9 | Flavor: 9 | Overall: 8

Bottle: Poured a deep reddish/brown color ale with a large foamy head with great retention and great lacing. Aroma of oak with some tart notes and maybe light cherry notes as well though that may originate from the oak. Taste is very complex and is dominated by some oak notes with some tart and sour notes also easily detectable. Full body with great carbonation and no trace of alcohol could be detected. This beer was very well done by one of the best US brewer of sour beers.