Jolly Pumpkin Noel de Calabaza

Brewed By: Jolly Pumpkin Artisan Ales in Dexter, Michigan  

Purchased: 750ml bomber bought at Jolly Pumpkin in Ann Arbor, MI; 2012

Style/ABV: Belgian Dark Strong Ale, 9.0%

Reported IBUs: ?
Batch 1198, Bottled 09-18-2012

It definitely snowed all day today, and was fairly cold last night. It's still snowing off and on, and it looks more like Christmas outside than Spring. It's quite literally, the perfect night to put the kibash on some Christmas/Winter beer. About Jolly Pumpkin:

Jolly Pumpkin has three enterprises: a restaurant, brewery, and distillery located in Traverse City; a cafe and brewery in Ann Arbor; and a factor for their Artisan Ales in Dexter. The brewery itself was founded by brewmaster Ron Jefferies. Ron began brewing professionally in 1995, and quickly became known as a respected brewer among the Michigan craft beer scene. In 2004, Ron opened Jolly Pumpkin Artisan Ales. Jolly Pumpkin is known for brewing beer that is aged in wine barrels containing brettanomyces. Brettanomyces is a naturally occurring yeast that is typically unwanted in beer because it imparts a "sour, leathery, barnyard, horse funk" profile. When used properly, beers made with brettanomyces can have desirable flavors. These flavors are often found in Lambics and Geuzes, and more recently in American Wild Ales.

If you check out Jolly Pumpkin's Noel de Calabaza page, you can see that this beer is a winter seasonal, aged in oak barrels, clocking in at 9.0% ABV. This beer is described as a deep mahogany, with big malts, hops, figs, raisins, sugar plums, cashews, and rum laden truffles. The bottle states:

"From our family to yours, please enjoy this special beer. Join us in celebrating the season with wishes of peace and joy for all. Deep mahogany and malty, layered hops and hints of fruit and spice. The perfect accompaniment for all times of good cheer. Please enjoy our beers in good health, Cheers & Mahalo plenty!"

Noel de Calabaza

This one pours a swampy purple/brown color, that almost looks black in low light. This one had some creeping carbonation from the bottle, but didn't gush. As such, I poured this very slowly, and still wound up with 3-finger's worth of foamy, tan/gray/sandy/soda-esque head. In bright light, this actually looks quite Dark Strong Ale-like, and you wouldn't notice the sinister funk lying beneath based on the appearance alone. In bright light, this is a swampy orange/brown/red/purple color, with a cloud of sediment in the middle, tons of tiny, lively carbonation bubbles, and a creamy tan head that won't die. Nice stuff.

The aroma is nice, with some funky nutmeg, a hint of Band-Aids from the Brett that is manifesting as Eggnog (Brett + nutmeg = Eggnog), big dark fruits in plums, figs, and raisins, and a touch of powdery/dusty cellar, with some dusty cacao, and some graham cracker. Also, mother fucking pecans. If you dive straight into this and take a huge whiff, you get straight up pecans. It's the weirdest thing...

This is a great holiday beer...with a lot going on. The pleasant surprise for me is the slightly boozy complexity, along with the smoke and anise I'm getting on the back. I'm getting some nutmeg, pine, ginger, and Christmas spice. There is some nice oak, tart/bright wood, and tart and funky plums, raisins, and figs in this. This seems wine-like. There's some earth, a touch of dirt, basement cellar, and some hop kick mid-palate. The back end finishes with a Belgian yeast kick: hints of clove, white sugar, and big apples, cider, and bright fruits. 

Really complex...this is the epitome of a sipping beer. At 9.0% ABV, this is very drinkable, but you just want to slow down and dissect every sip. Add in the ageability of this beer, and you have a complex beer right here. This has biting carbonation, but really fights for a smooth finish. It's the battle of smooth vs. biting. There's some hop bitterness mid-palate, and smoke on the back. Alcohol complexity is abound, and this finishes sticky and dry. I guess this is medium-full in terms of mouthfeel. Palate depth is great, complexity is even better. The oak, wood, and wild yeast all add another dimension to this. Up front is a ton of spice, dark fruits, and a hint of tartness; mid-palate is more spice, hops, hints of Brett funk; the back end trails off with big Belgian yeast, apple cider, lingering spice, boozy complexity, dusty cellar, dusty cacao, and fade to smoke/anise. 

Rating: Divine Brew

I'm feeling a Light Divine Brew on this...how many Belgian Dark Strong Ales get funked up in an oak barrel, and subjected to Brett/whatever additional wild yeast? This beer is very complex, and it has some really nice wine-like qualities that remind me of the very refined and tasty Corsendonk Pater. It also has a whole spice thing going on, which is very Christmas-y. This is just a funky, fun, complex beer...and I'd love to taste one of these 4 or 5 years down the road. I'll have to do that. I would pair this with a cold winter night, prior to Christmas, with a spicy dish like ham, sweat potatoes, or a nice wintery soup. You could also pair this with peppery steak, pepper chicken/turkey, or any meat that plays well with spices. 

Random Thought: This hits the Christmas thing pretty hard with the nutmeg and plums, but I'd almost be okay drinking this beer in transition between October and November. This beer has so much going on, there's likely to be a ton of variability with the experience. Because of that, reviewing this beer is like a shot in the dark. Considering bottles go for around 12-15 dollars, I would definitely pick up one or two and try it yourself.