Jolly Pumpkin Artisan Ales

Jolly Pumpkin Artisan Ales is a microbrewery in Dexter, Michigan founded by Ron Jeffries in 2004. Jolly Pumpkin produces a variety of unfiltered and unpasturized "rustic country beers".

They age their beers in wine barrels which contain microbiological cultures including brettanomyces. These cultures produce a complex flavor profile in beer which includes flavors described as leathery, earthy, wild, funky, or even "sweaty horse hair character" [http://www.northernbrewer.com/wyeast.html "Produces the classic sweaty horse hair character indigenous to beers of this region; gueuze, lambics, sour browns."] , and which may approximate how some beer tasted before the advent of pasteurization and industrialization. This style of beer has been described as farmhouse ales, or American Wild Ale.

The Oro de Calabaza won the 2004 Gold and the 2005 Bronze Medal in in the Belgian- and French-style ale category at the Great American Beer Festival. [http://www.beertown.org/events/gabf/04winners.doc] [ [http://www.beertown.org/events/gabf/pdf/winners_05.pdf Microsoft Word - winners final.doc ] ] Their Bam Bière was named the 21st best beer in America by "Men's Journal" [ [http://mensjournal.com/feature/0610/bestbeer.html MJ FEATURE: 25 Best Beers In America ] ] .

Their beers produced year-round include:
*Oro de Calabaza ("Golden pumpkin") (8% abv), described as a Franco-Belgian-style strong golden ale
*La Roja (7.2% abv), a Flanders red ale [ [http://www.allaboutbeer2.com/beertalk/reviews.cgi?action=beer&id=1018 Beer Talk: La Roja Artisan Ale]
*Bam Bière (4.5% abv), described as a light farmhouse ale or saison
*Calabaza Blanca ("White pumpkin") (4.8% abv), a Witbier
*E.S. Bam (4.7% abv), a farmhouse (spontaneously fermented) version of an extra special bitter

Their seasonally-produced beers include:
*Madrugada Obscura ("Dark Dawn") (8.1% abv), released in January, described as a Belgian-style stout
*Bière de Mars ("March Beer") (7% abv), released in March, a Bière de Garde
*Luciernaga ("Firefly") (6.5% abv), released in June, described as a spiced Belgian pale ale in the Grand Cru tradition
*Weizen Bam Bière, a hefeweizen which is released in summer
*Bam Noire (4.3% abv), released in September, described as a dark farmhouse ale
*Fuego del Otono ("Autumnal fire") (6.1% abv), released in October, a Bière de Garde
*Maracaibo Especial (7.5% abv), released in November, an Oud bruin, or Belgian-style brown ale
*Noel de Calabaza ("Christmas pumpkin") (9% abv), released in December, a holiday beer

Their occasionally-available Grand Reserve beers, each of which are hand-blended from mature, barrel-aged batches, include:
*La Roja Grand Reserve, a blend of 14- and 16-month old La Roja batches
*Bière De Mars Grand Reserve,
*Luciérnaga Grand Reserve,
*Oro De Calabaza Grand Reserve,
*Madrugada Obscura Grand Reserve,
*Perseguidor, a limited-release, custom-blended oak-aged ale

References

External links

*http://www.jollypumpkin.com/
*http://www.michigan.org/travel/detail.asp?p=B8955
*http://www.metromodemedia.com/Print.aspx?FileID=119fd4af-3e1c-47c0-a81a-adef202831b9
*http://seattlest.com/2007/06/27/new_beer_in_tow.php
*http://www.tcimbiber.com/events/2007/08/jolly-pumpkin-firkin-night-at-the-happy-gnome