Bam Bière - Jolly Pumpkin Artisan Ales

SickGnar

Pennsylvania

4/5  rDev +2.3%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Bottle: 8/4/11

A: Light, yet rich & warm, golden. First pour is clear with lots of big bubbles zinging up to a large bright white cap of foam. Retention is great & lacing is pretty good.

S: Floral & softly herbal. Lots of fruity sweetness – pears, apples, stone fruits, & white grape – more juicy than estery. Good amount of background pale malt. A bit of a lemony sour / tart impression. Hint of pepper & funk phenols. Ghost hint of grassy hops. Just a bit soft for strength, but nice overall.

T: Not as fruity or floral as the nose, but a lot more funky & tart & a bit sour. Opesn with a touch of sweetness & citrus fruit on a doughy & wheaty malt background. As malts quickly fade the citrus gets increasingly lemon and tart. A fair bit of citrus/grapefruit rind and lemon peel. Tartness is quite firm, and mixes in with earthy, white pepper, herbal, spicy, barnyard, & phenols notes from yeast and hops. Touch of sour throught, but especially noticeable at first. End & finish are quite earthy and herbal. Bitterness is fair, but plays second fiddle to tartness and funk.

M: On the light side with CO2 that is firm but super finely textured. Soft & smooth. Very attenuated. Fair bit of pucker from sour / tart aspect. Very drying starts from tart / sour / attenuation and continues with herbal / hop drying. Very cleansing.

D: Creative, interesting, and tasty. With the tart/sour/funk this may not be for everyone. But for those that like this sort of beer, this one is very solid & super drinkable.

Serving type: bottle

03-27-2012 22:10:44 | More by SickGnar

tehmogue

Massachusetts

4/5  rDev +2.3%

06-15-2013 11:28:05 | More by tehmogue

mactrail

California

2.75/5  rDev -29.7%
look: 3.5 | smell: 2.75 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

I can see swivelling up to a tankard of this in some stone pub at the end of a rocky trail through a poor, dusty country. Really, it should be served in big plastic soda jugs out of a fly-blown booth at an Africa truck-drivers' crossroads for a few cents.

Pale hazy golden in the glass with a really nice cap of white foam. Not much lacing. Lightly fizzy without any real body. Mouthfeel consists of some tart sensation and that hint of fizz. There is just a hint of yeasty bitterness

"Subtle" is perhaps too strong of a word for the flavor, which is not much. It's more like a science experiment. There is a slight acidic whiff if you try to smell it. This is just such a shadow of a beer, that if MillerCoors came out with it as a new Blue Moon flavor, the Lite drinkers would complain. On tap at the Public House in La Jolla.

Serving type: on-tap

06-15-2013 06:07:21 | More by mactrail

flayedandskinned

California

3.58/5  rDev -8.4%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Bottled on 3/22/2013
Poured into a standard tulip.

Appearance: (4)
Pours a hazy straw yellow with a huge 3.5 finger tall, billowy white head. The head lasts a while and leaves some splotchy lacing behind as it settles to about a finger's height.

Aroma: (3.75)
Bright, fresh Brettanomyces character upfront; wet hay, tangy pineapple, musty earth and light leather. The Brett is accented by some traditional Belgian yeast spiciness; mostly white pepper, clove and some freshly sliced pears. There is a spicy orange hop character as well that is somehow woven effortlessly between the brett and saison yeast aromatics. A soft, lightly sweet malt backbone rounds off this spicy smelling ale.

Taste: (3.5)
Spicy yeast esters right out of the gate; more of that white pepper and clove found in the nose. The yeast is accompanied by a simple barnyard funkiness; There is a light, grassy and somewhat citric hoppiness before you're greeted with some simple, bread-y pale malt. Finishes light, slightly bitter and dry with more lingering barnyard funk from the Brett.

Mouthfeel: (3.5)
Light bodied with a spritzy carbonation. Honestly feels a tad thin for the style.

Overall: (3.50)
A pretty much a 2 note beer(brett and yeasty spiciness) with a light, almost watery body. I was really expecting the high level of complexity that comes with most of Jolly Pumpkin's offerings, but I have to say I am pretty disappointed by this beer. However, It does achieve what it set out to be; which is a light, refreshing rustic ale. I just wish that the Brett character had more of that signature Jolly Pumpkin layered complexity.

Serving type: bottle

06-15-2013 05:22:15 | More by flayedandskinned

doremite

Massachusetts

4/5  rDev +2.3%

06-13-2013 21:27:27 | More by doremite

4DAloveofSTOUT

Illinois

3.75/5  rDev -4.1%

06-12-2013 06:27:03 | More by 4DAloveofSTOUT

Kerrie

Michigan

3/5  rDev -23.3%

06-12-2013 00:45:52 | More by Kerrie

tectactoe

Michigan

4.2/5  rDev +7.4%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4.25

One of Jolly Pumpkin's flagship brews, I can't believe it has taken me thing long to come around and finally review it. Bottled in October of 2010, it pours a beautiful golden-amber color with a light haze and translucency to it. Incredibly volatile, even being almost three years old; a huge, cloudy, off-white head forms and leaves some chunky lacing at the top of the glass.

The aroma stuns me with a nice funky-tartness up front that only seems to get funkier as time goes on; hay, wet cork, mild barnyard must, and plenty of yeast. It's got a light floral hop kiss, but it's quite subdued in this one, most likely due to its age. Tart fruits are abundant and mesh nicely with the funk - solid bouts of apples, grapes, and light amount of lemon and orange zest. Not acidic or vinous, really, but very refreshing smelling; laid-back and chill as can be.

The first sip lends to a mild tartness made of crisp, juicy apples. Malt is more apparent in the taste than the aroma, with plenty of light cracker and biscuit flavors that lay a solid foundation for the rest of the beer. Once the tart fruits sidestep a bit, the funk becomes heavy-handed; damp, wet wood, and musty cellar flavors. Bam Biere has a very solid flavor profile that's proving to be even more complex than I originally thought.

Jolly Pumpkin beers, aside from the Grand Reserves, typically contain a very nice, harmonious balance to them, and Bam Biere is no exception to that rule. It contains plenty of the signature "Jolly Pumpkin yeasty funk" while offsetting admirably with a collage of mildly tart fruits. No acidic or vinegar burn, meaning no acid reflux the next morning. Probably one of the lightest barrel influences of the JP beers I've had, though the finish is incredibly dry and contains a bit of oak; high carbonation with a light, crisp, effervescent mouth feel.

Certainly one of JP's best year-round brews, it integrates a few different styles by taking a funky farmhouse saison and souring it just a bit - not quite a saison, not quite a Flanders oud bruin. JP often blurs the style guidelines, and that's what I love about them. Possibly the best thing about this beer is the 4.5% ABV tag, too - so drinkable and quenching, and you won't be paying for it later. Definitely a solid brew.

Serving type: bottle

06-10-2013 03:52:46 | More by tectactoe

jarrgal

North Dakota

4/5  rDev +2.3%

06-10-2013 03:06:55 | More by jarrgal

SpongeRuiner

Michigan

4/5  rDev +2.3%

06-09-2013 22:56:29 | More by SpongeRuiner

SheLaLa

Massachusetts

5/5  rDev +27.9%

06-04-2013 16:47:19 | More by SheLaLa

fsck

Washington

4/5  rDev +2.3%

06-03-2013 08:04:39 | More by fsck

speedvagen

Ohio

3.5/5  rDev -10.5%

06-01-2013 11:26:29 | More by speedvagen

ADTaber

South Carolina

3.75/5  rDev -4.1%

05-29-2013 00:20:01 | More by ADTaber

mpayne5

Indiana

3.75/5  rDev -4.1%

05-27-2013 22:56:51 | More by mpayne5

meltroha

Ohio

4/5  rDev +2.3%

05-25-2013 03:25:50 | More by meltroha

c64person

Michigan

4.25/5  rDev +8.7%

05-24-2013 01:18:24 | More by c64person

stealth

Minnesota

4/5  rDev +2.3%

05-21-2013 05:14:04 | More by stealth

NJB145

Michigan

4.25/5  rDev +8.7%

05-19-2013 01:22:49 | More by NJB145

Photekut

Azerbaijan

4/5  rDev +2.3%

05-19-2013 00:57:30 | More by Photekut

hotsudge

Ontario (Canada)

2.75/5  rDev -29.7%

05-18-2013 03:09:06 | More by hotsudge

JayAre46

Texas

4/5  rDev +2.3%

05-17-2013 07:40:38 | More by JayAre46

Slatetank

Pennsylvania

4/5  rDev +2.3%

05-16-2013 22:50:17 | More by Slatetank

stewarbd

Ohio

3.5/5  rDev -10.5%

05-14-2013 00:43:42 | More by stewarbd

vrbulldog22

Ohio

3.75/5  rDev -4.1%

05-13-2013 18:52:52 | More by vrbulldog22