Bog Beast Porter
Jolly Pumpkin Artisan Ales

Beer Geek Stats
From:
Jolly Pumpkin Artisan Ales
 
Michigan, United States
Style:
American Porter
ABV:
Not listed
Score:
Needs more ratings
Avg:
4.13 | pDev: 5.08%
Reviews:
3
Ratings:
5
Status:
Retired
Rated:
Jun 22, 2014
Added:
Jan 01, 2010
Wants:
  0
Gots:
  0
No description / notes.
Recent ratings and reviews.
 
Rated: 4 by BillRoth from Maryland

Jun 22, 2014
 
Rated: 4 by cynical1027 from Ohio

Feb 21, 2012
Photo of DrDoitchbig
Reviewed by DrDoitchbig from Michigan

4.32/5  rDev +4.6%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
Had this on the hand pull at Jolly Pumpkin in Ann Arbor. It was supposed to be a snifter of Bière De Mars, but the waiter got mixed up. I'm actually glad he did, because otherwise I would have completely overlooked this one. I ended up getting some Bière De Mars anyways, so it all worked out.

Appearance: Arrived with around one to two fingers of tan head. The beer underneath appeared to be pitch black under the dim lighting, but when held up it showed off some very nice dark ruby hues and it did let a good bit of light through. The lacing was here and there, but fairly decent.

Smell: The main components were classic porter staples. Dark, bittersweet chocolate and roasted malts. Right after that the beer completely flips the script. I don't believe this is actually brewed with any fruit, but it has a strong ester presence that emulates cherries. It was a very tart smell and there was even a dash of Jolly Pumpkin funk in here.

Taste: Following the smell the main components were again were again the chocolate and roasted malts. The fruity esters were even stronger than in the smell. Again tart cherries. I expected this to be a fairly mundane standard Porter, but there was a definite sour kick to it and as previously stated even a smidgen of funk.

Mouthfeel: The body was a solid medium with the awesome creaminess that I've come to expect from most beers that I've sampled on cask. The carbonation was low, as to be expect, but adequate to make all the flavors pop. The finish was slightly drying.

Drinkability: This one was definitely an odd ball. But the sour jag this Porter was on made it perhaps the most refreshing take on the style I've ever had. I certainly could have had another.

Me and my drinking buddy were both curious as to why the menu made no mention of this being tart or sour so we decided to get down to the bottom of it. It just so happened that Ron Jefferies was in the building for the Bière De Mars tapping so we decided to strike up a conversation with him. So we asked him about the Bog Beast, amongst a myriad of other questions. As it turns out the beer was not intended to be sour. It was brewed at Jolly Pumpkin in Dexter and it basically picked up on all the wild yeast floating around in the air. He added that it basically turned from mild to wild overnight. Needless to say I would be quite excited if they tried to replicate the error and bottle this stuff. I would be the first person in line to pick some up.
Mar 23, 2010
Photo of jampics2
Reviewed by jampics2 from Ohio

4.45/5  rDev +7.7%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5
This was described by our server as a "Jolly Pumpkin Chocolate Cranberry Stout". No mention of porter, so I'm not sure what style this should be listed as.

Served on cask in a nice goblet.

Black with a 2 finger cappuchino head that sticks around forever!

Smells of cocoa powder and nuts. Walnuts perhaps? This smells really good, very expressive!

Taste is a nice, deep cocoa and walnut flavor. Not too much else, not getting any cranberry at all.

Mouthfeel was nice, but felt a touch thin on cask.

Overall, this was an awesome beer, probably the best we had at the JP Cafe when we visited for the Lambicus release.
Jan 03, 2010
Photo of Thorpe429
Reviewed by Thorpe429 from Illinois

3.9/5  rDev -5.6%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5
This was the cask selection when my wife and I visited on 12.28.2009.

The brew poured a deep, dark brown with a tan head. The nose provided plenty of roasted malt along with hints of chocolate and coffee. These flavors were present in the taste as well, with the roasted character really balancing well with the smooth mouthfeel provided by the cask nature of the beer. Drinkability was high, and this was a nice twist on the other Jolly Pumpkin selections we imbibed in that day.
Jan 01, 2010
Bog Beast Porter from Jolly Pumpkin Artisan Ales
Beer rating: 4.13 out of 5 with 5 ratings