Phobos
Jolly Pumpkin Artisan Ales

RB transfer

 

 

16 oz can, poured into a tulip at ~40 degrees F.

L: Pours a cloudy but still slightly translucent pink-amber, and forms a couple fingers of white head with good retention.

S: The aroma is not unlike a fruit cocktail, with an underlay of faint spices and distant funk.

T: Sharp-edged tartness opens each sip, followed by a slurry of underripe tart berry and peaches. Here and there a vegetal note manifests, and a faint, low spiciness wafts through the backdrop. The finish lingers as sharply tart fruits. As this beer warms, the sharp tartness fades a tad, allowing more of the vegetal and spicy character to emerge. Garlic and basil become noticeable, and join in the lingering aftertaste.

F: In the borderland of light and medium, and lively. There is a watery breakdown by the swallow.

O: Not a bad saison.

Can from Uptown Market.

A raspberry pink with a thin, off-white head. The nose is weird. Lots of raspberry, a mild pineapple, a little, basil. Straw, tart, mild acidity. Opening with straw, mild funk. Blend of raspberry, pineapple and a little basil. The finish is a little weird, with a mildly medicinal note. Fruity, mildly funky, mildly sulfury. Not too shabby.

 

 

 

Every have those moments when you're torn between having a pizza or a fruit tarte? Well... me neither, but if such a dilemma should arise, Jolly Pumpkin has a sour ale for that.

With an equal blend of peach, pink and gold, the pale and hazy Phobos builds a quick hitting head soon falls still to resemble and fruited sangria.-type beverage. With that curious peppery sourness of Jolly Pumpkin tingling the nose, an extra perfume of berry, cider and pungent herb offers a unique array of aromas. A light and wafer-thin sweetness seems more of taffy and sourdough in a slight malty upstart.

Once the sourness kicks in on the middle palate, the undercurrent of lime, lemon, sour white grape and gooseberry highlight the signature sourness just before the additions of fruit and herb takes the helm. Without much of the advertised tomato or olive oil making much of a mark, its the pungent and dank aspects of garlic and basil that can be read into the taste, even if slightly. A milder taste of the apricot, pineapple and peach fuel those sangria flavors further, but alas its the peppery and yeasty spices that carry the sourness into the identity that's familiar to Jolly Pumpkin ales.

Medium light in body, the added fruit gives the beer a peppery tart finish but also added flavor and texture. A thinning of tastes and textures late in taste allows for a weakness to play out in watery fashion before a peppery finish and a winey sourness in a medium-short aftertaste.