{"id":2252,"date":"2010-12-24T09:00:28","date_gmt":"2010-12-24T15:00:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.guysdrinkingbeer.com\/?p=2252"},"modified":"2018-02-06T14:25:41","modified_gmt":"2018-02-06T20:25:41","slug":"from-the-cellar-jolly-pumpkin-noel-de-calabaza-2007","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.guysdrinkingbeer.com\/from-the-cellar-jolly-pumpkin-noel-de-calabaza-2007\/","title":{"rendered":"“12 Beers of Christmas” Cellar Review: Jolly Pumpkin Noel De Calabaza"},"content":{"rendered":"

Jolly Pumpkin says:<\/p>\n

“Deep mahogany and malty, layered hops, figs, raisins, sugar plums, cashews betwixt rum laden truffles.”<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Jolly Pumpkin Noel De Calabaza
\nBelgian Strong Dark Ale, 9% ABV
\n<\/em><\/p>\n

Karl:<\/strong> Jolly Pumpkin is another one of those breweries who I want to like a lot more than I do.  The first offering that Ryan brought us from them, the Madrugada Obscura<\/a>, was great but the following beers made me wonder if I only really liked that Dark Dawn because of the novelty of a sour stout as opposed to the actual beer itself.  I\u2019ve been to the JP in Traverse City and had a couple of their drafts, we\u2019ve tried and failed to appreciate the \u201cpumpkin<\/a>\u201d beer from Jolly Pumpkin.  Now, thankfully, I have a JP beer that I honestly really, really liked.<\/p>\n

This 2k7 release has been bouncing through Ryan\u2019s mind for months and months.  I don\u2019t know how I\u2019d be able to hold this back for so long because damn, was this a fine beer.  I love sour beers – if you\u2019ve met with me at a bar this year you\u2019ve heard me praise La Folie to the heavens – but I don\u2019t love how every single JP beer is at least slightly sour or acidic.  The Noel poured with a ridiculously monstrous head, taking minutes at a time to die off.  Once we got past that head, we discovered a whole new world of flavors.<\/p>\n

If I described the Mad Elf<\/a> this time as \u201cfunfetti,\u201d this was more like a layer cake.  That thick, foamy head was all sour and tart, and if you suck just off the top of the beer and drink that foam it is literally facepuckeringly rough.  Drink underneath, like a beer archeologist, and you get to some pretty marvelous stuff.  An earthy, funky, oaky and complex beer lies beneath, with carbonation and some sweetness and a little taste of white wine to boot.<\/p>\n

I literally exhaled and basically gasped at the end of this beer.  Some beers are described as \u201ccomplex\u201d but you know what\u2019s all in there and what\u2019s going on.  This version of \u201ccomplex\u201d just kinda makes you say \u201cwhat the eff is going on here\u201d but you go back for more.  This is my favorite Jolly Pumpkin to date.  If this is more of an indication of what they were doing back then, I\u2019d love to see them do more of this.<\/p>\n