Porcupine De Amore
Jolly Pumpkin Artisan Ales

 

A: Moderate citrusy hop aroma with light passion fruit, followed by a moderately light funk, with a light sourness.

A: Deep gold color with an orange hue, hazy, with a head that quickly forms a thin ring around the glass.

T: Moderate passion fruit upfront, followed by a moderately light funk that gives way to dark stone fruit and light oak.

M: Medium-light bodied with moderate carbonation, slightly soft mouth-feel.

O: Solid; the beer has an interesting complexity from blending a sour IPA and a foeder amber. The beer could be even better with slightly more pronounced hops. Perhaps a dry-hopped version could be in the future!

 

 

Reviewed from notes. Poured from a 750 mL bottle into an El Catador Barrel-Aged glass.

A: Hazy dark gold, fairly low visible carbonation. A finger's worth of white head fades fairly quickly.

S: Musty and a bit of lactic tartness. Tropical fruits and a modest barnyard funk. Citrus and dank hops. More lactic and lemony citric acids. Biscuit malts with just a bit of wheat grist. Light oaky tannins, and a minerally water character. Decent, and interesting enough.

T: Tropical fruits, heaviest on the passion fruit. Some citric and lactic tartness, and a modest barnyard funk with notes of cheese. Citric acidity and oak tannins, cracker malts with a mild grist. Lemony citric tart and more funk in the hang.

M: A light body. Low alcohol presence. A low level of carbonation sensation, and the carbonation comes off as almost creamy.

O: This was pretty tasty, and with a nice funk. The tropical fruits I wouldn’t have missed – I think the fruity profile from the hops would have been adequate. The creamy mouthfeel accentuated by the fairly low level of carbonation hurts this a bit as well, I think. But overall it was decent.

 

 

 

On tap at Redlight. Hazy orange body. Smells of oak, vanilla, passionfruit, though I probably wouldn’t have picked it out without having been told. Tastes fruity up front. Lightly tart. Sweet pale malts. Orange and grapefruit behind it. Oaky finish. Medium body. Tasty blend of styles.

 

 

 

 

I picked up a bottle of Jolly Pumpkin and North Peak's Porcupine De Amore for $12.99 at The Lager Mill. This one sounds pretty good and I'm very interested to see how it turns out, so lets see how it goes. 2017 Vintage. Poured from a brown 750ml bottle into a teku.

A- The label looks really nice, it goes great with the name and it's really eye catching. It poured a nice orange color that takes on more of a golden orange color when held to the light with a finger and a half worth of bubbly and fizzy off white head that died down to a thin ring that eventually faded away and didn't really leave much lacing behind. This is a pretty nice looking beer, but I wish it had some better lacing and head and retention.

S- The aroma starts off with a higher amount of medium sweetness with the fruits being the first to show up and it imparts a nice mixed fruit aroma with some mango, apricot, lemon and tart cherry aromas coming through and it's a little candy like and it goes into the funky JP yeast which is noticeable, but it's a little lighter than it normally is, but it imparts the same funky barn yard aromas. Up next comes the wood which stick out a little more than yeast and it imparts a nice oaky aroma and it's followed by the malts which impart a sweet malt, pale malt, slightly bready and slightly grainy malt aromas. This beer has a very a nice aroma, the sour fruit aromas are nice and they work well with this beer.

T- The taste seems to be similar to the aroma, but it's a little more fruity this time and it starts off with a higher amount of medium sweetness with the fruits still being the first to show up and they impart those mixed fruit aspects that I got in the aroma with no single one sticking out the most and that goes into the funky yeast which is a little lighter than it was in the aroma. Up next comes the wood which is noticeable, but it's a little lighter than it was in the aroma and it's followed by the malts which impart all the same aspects, but they are lighter this time and dominated by the fruits. On the finish there's a lower amount of high sourness with a nice fruity and juicy aftertaste with a little more sweetness. This is a very nice beer, it's dominated by the sour fruits in the best way possible.

M- Fairly smooth, almost mouth puckering, pretty crisp, medium bodied with a higher amount of medium carbonation. The mouthfeel is good and it works well with this beer.

Overall I thought this was a very nice beer and it's a very nice example of the style, it really delivers on those sour fruity flavors and there's just enough funk and oak to let you know it's a JP beer. This beer had good drinkability, one or two glasses would be a good amount for me, the sourness might start to wear on me after more than that. What I like the most about this beer is the sour fruit and juicy flavors, they are very nice and they are showcased well. What I like the least about this beer is the appearance and that funky yeast and oaky didn't show up just a little more. I would buy this beer again and I would be interested to see how it ages. I would recommend this to anyone who likes fruity sours, it really delivers when it comes to that type of beer. All in all I was happy with this beer and i was a little impressed with how much fruity and juicy flavor they packed into this beer. It's one of the better JP beers I've had lately and it's a very nice example of the style. Great job guys, this is was tasty and fruity sour beer, keep it up.

On tap at Vinsetta Garage, Detroit, Michigan on 02/17/17.

Clear golden pour with a white one-finger head. Nice aroma of sour fruit and barnyard funk that hits strong. Taste is tart but not puckeringly so. Lots of fruit flavors in the light and thin body with mango and peach standing out.

 

 

750 ml bottle into tulip glass, bottled on 10/26/2016. Pours lightly hazy medium orange/amber color with a 1-2 finger dense off white head with good retention, that reduces to a thin cap that lingers. Light spotty soapy lacing clings on the glass, with a fair amount of streaming carbonation. Aromas of big tart lemon, passion fruit, strawberry, raspberry, peach, plum, apricot, green apple, pear, mango, melon, white pepper, white wine, orange peel, toasted oak, hay, funk, leather, biscuit, light caramel/nuttiness, and yeast/oak earthiness. Damn nice aromas with great balance and complexity of fruity/funky/spicy yeast, passion fruit, oak barrel, and bready malt notes; with great strength. Taste of big tart lemon, passion fruit, strawberry, raspberry, peach, plum, apricot, green apple, pear, mango, melon, white pepper, white wine, orange peel, toasted oak, hay, funk, leather, biscuit, light caramel/nuttiness, and yeast/oak earthiness. Moderate fruity tartness and yeast/tannic oak spiciness on the finish; with lingering notes of tart lemon, passion fruit, strawberry, raspberry, peach, plum, apricot, green apple, pear, mango, melon, white pepper, white wine, orange peel, toasted oak, hay, funk, leather, biscuit, and yeast/oak earthiness on the finish for a while. Great complexity, robustness, and balance of fruity/funky/spicy yeast, passion fruit, oak barrel, and bready malt flavors; with a great malt/tart/tannic/spiciness balance, and zero astringent flavors after the finish. Light-moderate dryness from tart/spiciness, increasing through the glass. Medium carbonation and body; with a very smooth, moderately grainy/bready, sticky/tannic, and lightly acidic balanced mouthfeel that is nice. Minimal warming alcohol for 8.1%. Overall this is an awesome fruited wild amber ale. All around great complexity, robustness, and balance of fruity/funky/spicy yeast, passion fruit, oak barrel, and bready malt flavors; very smooth and easy to sip on with the balanced tart/tannic flavors. Tastes nearly identical to Rosie del Barrio, but with a bit more juicy tropical notes from the passion fruit IPA blend. A really enjoyable offering.