Name: La Roja

Brewer: Jolly Pumpkin

Style: Belgian Flanders/Oud Bruin Ale or American Wild Ale (take your pick)

Vintage: 2007

Cellared On: October 19th, 2007

Original Tasting: November 17th, 2007

I decided to break this bottle out on the night of my wife’s birthday party (happy birthday honey!) to share it with a group of my beer-loving buddies. It’s always more fun to try a new beer with some good friends, don’t you think? Later in the evening I also opened up a bottle of Jolly Pumpkin’s Oro de Calabaza, but that one didn’t go over nearly as well as La Roja did. More on that tasting on a later date.

A few weeks back there was a post on A Good Beer Blog about a trip to the Jolly Pumpkin brewery. In that article, they mention that it’s recommended that you chill Jolly Pumpkin beers a bit before opening because of the incredible carbonation that can build up inside of the bottles. I really wish I had read that before I opened my bottle of La Roja up, because this brew just exploded all over me. I was totally drenched, and ended up wearing (instead of drinking) about a third of the beer. If you try this brew, remember to settle it down a bit in the fridge before you pop the cap. You have been warned!

Aside from that mishap, the tasting was very well received by everyone. The beer was very highly thought of by the tasting panel, even though none of them had really had anything approaching this style of brew before. Here’s some of the individual comments, with my thoughts afterward.

• Rick (a lover of strong beers, he just doesn’t know it yet) - very fruity at first, leading into tastes of clove and other spices on the finish
• Tony (loves pretty much all beers) - big tangerine flavor hits you right away, with an orange/citrusy finish
• Darren (highly opinionated beer lover) - this beer is “twisty”, oak smell, great fruit flavor, very fun to drink, has a great aftertaste.
• Tim (loves beer but can’t smell a thing) - lots of fruit flavor, maybe some vanilla in there too?

I personally loved this beer. There was a fruity smell (thank god, because it was all over me), with a deep reddish-brown color. Obviously highly carbonated. Big oak and fruit flavors. I get sour cherry flavor more then anything else, but I tasted the orangy citrus hints also. There’s also a certain earthiness to this brew. Not sure if that’s a malt flavor or possibly a hint of Brett. Finishes fruity with some spice, and surprisingly dry.

Six Month Tasting: April 16th, 2008

Holy sour beer Batman!

MUCH more sour then before. The same complexity of flavor is there (cherry, peach, citrus, oak, “earthiness”) but the sourness is one small step below overwhelming. It seems like the yeast in this brew have just about gobbled up all the sugar, and the sourness is coming through stronger then ever. Color, carbonation, and smell are pretty much the same as before. Still drinkable, still interesting, but the balance here is way out of whack.

Cellar Outlook: It’s high in alcohol (9%), and aggressively conditioned, so it should hold up very well. I have absolutely no idea where it’s going to head over the years, but it’ll be fun to find out.

Six Month Cellar Outlook - Can sourness diminish over time? I really don’t know, but that’s what it’ll take for this brew to come back.

Next Tasting: October 2008

Jason

jason@brewbasement.com

www.brewbasement.com