By Golly, a big Jolly Cask
On the same night I tried Flat Earth’s Angry Earth, I also had the opportunity to try Jolly Pumpkin’s Calabaza Blanca on cask at the Happy Gnome. I was curious to get a third taste of Jolly Pumpkin.
The first bottle, I had over a year ago when Jolly Pumpkin first was distributed in MN, was a nice Belgain ale the Oro de Calabaza. It was something like a wit crossed with a strong golden, with a light influence of the wood and wild Belgian yeast (the later two being hallmarks making Jolly Pumpkin special).
The next bottle I was reviewing for the Twin Cities Imbiber. It was again the Oro de Calabaza strongly sour — totally interesting, but totally different from the first bottle.
What would I get the third time - with a different beer? From the cask, the beer was flatter, of course, but it was also less sour in the attack. There was more oakiness and perhaps most pleasingly, the sourness gave way to a yeasty/rising bread/wheaty flavor in the middle. Finally, there was a slight hoppy finish.
The fourth time? I don’t know what I’m going to get. It’s clear Jolly Pumpkin’s barrel-aging is evolving, changing and allowing their beers to have lives of their own. I think this is interesting and wildly exciting, so I’ll be looking for more jolly-ness in my life.
