Maui Brewing-Jolly Pumpkin Sobrehumano Palena’ole

My buddy Matt brought over some cans of the Maui Brewing-Jolly Pumpkin collaboration Sobrehumano Palena’ole, the version brewed at Maui Brewing. The beer pours a gold-tinted amber color with a thin bubbly white colored head. The aroma consists of passion fruit, fruit salad, cherries, and pineapple. The taste is very similar to a fruit cocktail, passion fruit, tart cherries, pineapple, orange, and ruby red grapefruit. The finish is a little peppery and slightly watery. The alcohol content is 6.0% ABV. I thought the beer was refreshing and had plenty of fruit flavors, but I also thought it tasted similar to canned fruit cocktail, something I am not too keen on.

Jolly Pumpkin Fuego del Otono Autumn Fire

My buddy Matt brought over a bottle of Jolly Pumpkin Fuego del Otono Autumn Fire that he picked up from Al’s of Hampden. The beer pours a cloudy golden color with a frothy white head. The aroma consists of barnyard, hay, horse blanket, chestnuts, lemon, and wheat. The taste is smooth and sweet at first with lemon before a slight tinge takes over the tongue with hay and horse blanket flavors. The finish has some pepper and chestnuts. The alcohol content is 6.1% ABV. As with most Jolly Pumpkin Beers, this one had a great funkiness to it and was a wonderful wild ale. It had just the right amount of spices for fall, and just a touch of sweetness on the front end.

Jolly Pumpkin Lupolo de Hielo

As part of the Michael Jackson Rare Beer of the Month Club I received a bottle of Jolly Pumpkin Lupolo de Hielo, a beer that benefits Pints for Prostates. The beer pours an orange-tinted gold color with a bubbly white head. The aroma consists of lemon, grass, hay, horse blanket, wheat, and fresh cracked pepper. The taste is lightly sour with sweet lemon on top while vinegar lingers in the background. The finish has some a great horse blanket flavor with hay, grass, and pepper. The alcohol content is 6.0% ABV. The balance in this beer was remarkable with a touch of sweetness, tart lemon and vinegar flavor, and a dry finish that leaves you wanting more.

Jolly Pumpkin Luciernage

My buddy Matt brought over a bottle of Jolly Pumpkin Luciernage to share. The beer pours a orange-tinted gold color with a frothy white head that leaves some lacing on the glass. The aroma consists of orange, lemon, yeast, barnyard funk, and a slight sour twist. The taste has a lot of barnyard funk, hay, and horse blanket. There is some lemon and a sourness about it as well. The finish brings out some pepper and grassy hops. The alcohol content is 6.5% ABV. I really liked the funk contained in this bottle with a nice sourness. The grassy hops were a perfect balance to the sourness and lemon flavors.

Jolly Pumpkin Baudelaire Series iO Saison

My buddy Matt picked up a bottle of Jolly Pumpkin Baudelaire Series iO Saison from Al’s of Hampden and brought it over to share. The beer pours an amber color with reddish hues, which was surprising for a saison, with a lofty foamy white head that laces to the glass. The aroma consists of sour cherry, wheat, lemon, and grassy hops. The taste is light on the tongue with lots of wheat and lemon before a slight sour cherry twist comes in to play. The alcohol content is 6.8% ABV. I am a big fan of saisons, but the slight sour twist to this beer takes it to a new level with an excellent sour cherry accent.

Leelanau Whaleback White

My buddy Matt bought a bottle of Leelanau Whaleback White, brewed at Jolly Pumpkin, from Al’s of Hampden, and brought it over to my house to share. The beer pours a golden color with a thin filmy white head. Following the pour, it is noticeable that this beer is very aromatic and smells of vinegar, sour lemon, orange peel, and wheat. The taste is sweet with wheat at first before sour lemon, orange, and vinegar kicks in. The alcohol content is 5.2% ABV. It is evident that since this beer was brewed at Jolly Pumpkin, there is the trademark Jolly Pumpkin sourness about it, providing a great sour accent to a white beer.

Jolly Pumpkin Noel de Calabaza

I acquired a bottle of Jolly Pumpkin Noel de Calabaza from Teresa’s Next Door bar as part of their clearance sale. The bottle is labeled Blend 2, 2009. The beer pours a reddish-brown color with an extremely lofty and foamy off-white colored head. The aroma consists of malty with sour apple and cherry notes, oak, and bits of vanilla. The taste has toasted malts with a bubbly mouth feel just before the sourness kicks in on the tongue. There are flavors of grape, plum, and cherry and some oak lingers on the after taste. The alcohol content is 9.0% ABV. The beer has held up over age and has a wonderful sour fruit profile, yet has an excellent malty backbone.

Jolly Pumpkin Maracaibo Especial

I ordered a glass of Jolly Pumpkin Maracaibo Especial from Teresa’s Next Door Bar in Wayne, PA. The beer pours a brown amber color with a thin bubbly white head. The aroma consists of raisin, sweet malts, and has a light sour accent that is typical of all Jolly Pumpkin beers that I have had. The taste is sour with cherry, malts, orange peel, and candisugar and the beer has a dry finish. The alcohol content is 7.5% ABV. I would put this beer in the not too sour category but sour enough to take your tongue on a wild ride. There is no face puckering involved with this beer, but it manages to use all parts of your tongue during tasting.

Jolly Pumpkin La Roja Amber Ale

I picked up a bottle of Jolly Pumpkin La Roja Amber Ale from Al's of Hampden. The beer pours a reddish-amber color with a lofty, frothy white head. The aroma consists of sour cherry, caramel, oak, and grass. The taste is sour and slightly puckering but wonderfully smooth with caramel and malts. The mouth feel is light and bubbly on the tongue. The finish is drying and leaves the flavor of oak to linger on the tongue. The alcohol content is 7.2% ABV. I'll be honest in saying I picked up this bottle expecting a standard amber ale, but was pleasantly shocked to find it was a sour beer and had a wonderful sour cherry profile to it.

Jolly Pumpkin La Parcela No.1 Pumpkin Ale

I picked up a bottle of Jolly Pumpkin La Parcela No. 1 Pumpkin Ale from Al's of Hampden. This is Jolly Pumpkin's first pumpkin beer, despite their name, and they added a new twist by making it a sour beer. The beer pours a golden-orange color with a frothy white head. The aroma consists of sour pumpkin and a soft wheat background. The taste is sour at first before a sweeter pumpkin flavor comes through with spiced finish and a hint of chocolate in the after taste. The alcohol content is 5.9% ABV. I really enjoyed this fresh approach to a pumpkin beer. It really mixes up the somewhat tired offering from every brewing company that has pumpkin and spices. The sour beer may not be or everyone, but I really enjoyed this offering.

Jolly Pumpkin Oro De Calabaza

I ordered a glass of Jolly Pumpkin Oro De Calabaza, a Biere de Garde, from O'Reilly's in Harrisburg. The beer pours a pale yellow color with a faint filmy white head. The aroma consists of lemon with wheat and orange citrus. The taste is full of lemon, citrus, pepper, green apple, and tangerine. There is also a nice meringue finish with a bite of yeast. The alcohol content is 8.0% ABV. I thought the the Oro De Calabaza was refreshing and delicious and a great summer time beer. It was also very well done in the Biere De Garde style and I would recommend it to anyone venturing into this style.

Nogne-o/Jolly Pumpkin Artisan Ales/Stone Brewing Special Holiday Ale

I picked up a bottle of Special Holiday Ale when I was in New Jersey visiting. This beer is a collaboration from Nogne-o, Jolly Pumpkin Artisan Ales, and Stone Brewing Company. The beer pours a dark brown color with a bubbly tan head. The aroma is spicy, consisting of nutmeg, cinnamon, molasses, pine, and pie crust. The taste is thick and smooth, with heavy accents on the molasses, nutmeg, and cinnamon. There are accents of sage and pine in there as well. The beer finishes with a pie crust taste and a bit dry from the great hops in the beer. The alcohol content is 8.5% ABV. This was a totally delicious brew and I highly recommend picking up a bottle if you get a chance. There were so many levels to this beer, no doubt due to the fact that three different brewers had a hand in it. My only regret is not buying more bottles of this, as I was saddened when the bottle was gone.