E. S. Bam - Jolly Pumpkin Artisan Ales

weeare138

Pennsylvania

3.68/5  rDev -3.4%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Thanks to hopdog. Batch 267, 268.

Appears a semi-transparent amber with a small white head that slowly fades out. Tons of scattered lacing is left around the glass.
Smell is of funky farmhouse, earthy notes, citrusy hops, and ripe fruit.
Taste is hoppy, earthy, rubbery, citrusy, with mild apple coming through in the flavors.
Mouthfeel is medium bodied, fruity, hoppy, with citrus lingering along the palate in the swallow.

Serving type: bottle

06-25-2008 02:11:28 | More by weeare138

Viggo

Ontario (Canada)

4.05/5  rDev +6.3%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4.5

Sampled at biegamans Summer Saison tasting, thanks to MDS for bringing this one.

Pours a hazy brownish amber, thin off white head forms, quickly drops to a thin ring, some lace spots on the glass. Smell is caramelized, some herbal hopping, floral, light citrus, bit of bready spiciness, tart fruit, nice, some light roasty malts. Taste is similar, caramel, some wood, herbal and lightly fruited, very toasty middle, a bit astringent and bitter in the finish. Mouthfeel is medium bodied with low to medium carbonation, big bitterness, but very solid and drinkable. Thanks Mike!

Serving type: bottle

07-28-2008 02:24:54 | More by Viggo

corby112

Pennsylvania

4.78/5  rDev +25.5%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 5 | feel: 5 | overall: 4.5

Pours a dark hazy chestnut brown/ orange-amber color with a thick frothy off-white head that has excellent retention. This isn't giving way at all. I mean it barely settles into a thick cap that lasts throughput leaving large chunks of soapy lacing that practically coat the glass.

Sweet citrus aroma with lots of orange peel and some nice chocolate and caramel malt. Tart earthy notes with some nice peppery spice, more citrus, dark cherries, light fruit, oak and vanilla. This is a very complex aroma. Let's hope the flavo is the same.

Nice chewy full body with some art sour oak/wood flavor. This slightly puckering earthy taste is a perfect compliment to the citrus peel notes and earthy hops. Once again, there is a prominent orange peel presence with some soft carbonation and a nice malt backbone providing excellent balance. The aftertaste of this beer makes me salivate for another sip. Extremely quaffable. Another excellent offering from the folks at Jolly Pumpkin.

Serving type: bottle

10-15-2009 06:38:41 | More by corby112

Beerandraiderfan

Nevada

3.5/5  rDev -8.1%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3

Drank at Craft last Thursday. Pours a mixture of dark yellow and light amber with ample frothy head. Good zesty hop presence, not dry hopped ipa like, but hoppy nonetheless. Floral and mildly citrus.

Taste, hops didn't come through as much, bitterness definitely did, carbonation was up on this one. Very dry. Didn't come across anything I would call anything beyond very mildly funky or sour from this, at this point I was realizing I was having a very different beer from Jolly Pumpkin, but closer to par for everyone else. Didn't pick up really any brett from the beer. Was more like one of those imperial pilsners if anything.

At $9 a bottle, its not worth it.

Serving type: bottle

05-25-2011 23:00:40 | More by Beerandraiderfan

johnmichaelsen

Oregon

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

On tap at Max's today.

The beer pours a somewhat light gold color with good head retention and lacing. The nose is attractive, with light clove, honey, orange citrus and a hint of vanilla. The flavor profile replicates the nose, but with a light sour component I wasn't expecting. The beer is pretty dry, with no more than a light honey flavor along with the light clove, vanilla and sour. Mouthfeel is medium bodied, with a crisp, slightly bitter finish. Drinkability is pretty good, as you would expect with this level of alcohol.

Nothing earth shattering here, but this is still pretty solid.

Serving type: on-tap

04-16-2011 18:07:57 | More by johnmichaelsen

Rifugium

Pennsylvania

3.53/5  rDev -7.3%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

First had: on tap at Teresa's, Wayne, PA

Poured a cloudy amber-brown color with a finger's breadth of foamy eggshell head, moderate retention and lacing. Bready malts and yeast in the aroma, fruit and spice. Taste of bready malts, woody, lightly spiced fruit and potpourri, vaguely zesty, more sweet than tart, a bit of grassy funk, fairly bitter in the finish. Medium body, generously carbonated. An okay brew, nothing amazing.

Serving type: on-tap

05-08-2012 13:06:55 | More by Rifugium

glid02

Georgia

3.8/5  rDev -0.3%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

On-tap (glad to see it finally here from JP) at the Porter Beer Bar in Atlanta.

Pours a slightly hazy amber-brown color with a one-finger white head. The head recedes into a thin layer on top leaving thick lacing.

Smells of light amounts of funk with bright and leafy hop aromas. Also present are very mild amounts of dry caramel malts.

Tastes good. Dry caramel malt flavors with a good deal of graininess kick things off. Very mild amounts of funk make their way into things midway through the sip before being drowned out by earthy hop flavors. The hops carry through to a solidly bitter finish that's very dry and mildly crisp.

Mouthfeel is good. It's got a nice thickness with active carbonation.

Drinkability is also good. I finished my glass without a problem and could have another.

Overall this was an interesting beer however I wish the flavor profile more closely matched the nose. Not the best offering from JP but still worth a shot if you see it around.

Serving type: on-tap

04-28-2010 00:36:56 | More by glid02

beerthulhu

New Jersey

3.55/5  rDev -6.8%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Batch 514. Bottled 3-5-10. Consumed 6-20-10.

A: As with most of their beers the wild Belgian yeast is evident upon the pour producing a glass consuming head that was tusk ivory in color. Retention was time consuming due to its initial size, as the head calved and pitted leaving cavenous voids. As it fell, it left a huge, speckled, glass coating lacing that was densely packed together and spongey in character. Substantial pours projected an ice-berg like structures rising and breaching the glass rim. A dark tawny brownish orange color with a thick misty haze is observed once the head settled from the bottom up revealing an extremely light effervesce factor that produced only a few random bubbles being released at any given moment. I absolutely loved the humongous rocky head which outlasted my patience to start drinking and sniffing.

S: A decent offering of wild Belgian yeast exists on the nose, musky with scents of cobwebs and cellar like atmosphere were to be had. The strength was light however with hardly a trace of hops to be found.

T: Toasted grains with yeasty attributes of cobwebs and musky fruit of oranges and melons could be found on the initial sip. There is a good deal of maltiness here, especially per style and on the swallow which showcased a silty and powdery coating and character. Musky whole hop cones, both citrusy and of green leafy hints could be detected with a medium sense of delivery. Slightly tart orange grinds are also present rounding things out in an otherwise good show flavor-wise but nothing that takes it to an A level.

M: The mouthful is light, very smooth filled with a tart fruitiness of melons upon the swallow. Dry with hardly a trace of effervesce makes this sit pretty lifeless on the tongue.

D: Good drinkability per style, with enough character to be respectable yet still light enough to be manageable for the novice per style. A bomber sits well with me, decent, but nothing that made me go wow.

Serving type: bottle

06-25-2010 01:36:07 | More by beerthulhu

DrJay

Massachusetts

3.95/5  rDev +3.7%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

Batch 267, 268. Warning: Slow gusher alert. It didn't quite go crazy after the cap was popped, but I wouldn't leave it unattended either.
Clear burnt orange with a solid cap of fine beige bubbles. Good retention, aided by constantly surfacing bubbles, with some moderately sticky lacing. JP funk hits the nose right away, a combination of tartness and acidity, almost like salt and vinegar chips, but much more mellow. Earthy berries and grass, this is hoppier than the regular bam, but it seems like the hops have faded somewhat compared to other reviews of the same batches earlier in the year. Still, very nicely balanced on the nose. The flavour was... everything in the aroma, plus more. Hops were much more pronounced, leafy and grassy with a slight mint character in the finish, quite floral, and the bitterness was sturdy and forceful. This worked well with the light acidity, keeping the palate quite clean. Less fruity than the aroma with just a hint of the berry tartness I expected based on the smell. Light bodied, very dry, with plenty of carbonation that kept the texture light and airy. What can I say, I like just about everything JP puts out. My only (minor) issue was the dryness seemed to work against this beer, crowding out some of the flavour.

Serving type: bottle

12-27-2008 20:26:13 | More by DrJay

Georgiabeer

Georgia

2.95/5  rDev -22.6%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 2.5

Looks great with a dark chestnut color and a fantastic head that sticks around and leaves some great lacing, but fundamentally I think this beer is ill conceived. I'm a fan of Jolly Pumpkin, and I also like quite a few of the hoppy Belgian beers. What I don't like in this beer is the pronounced hops with the sour flavors. They would work well seperately, but together they clash and compete with one another. Typical sour aromas are nice enough and the hops are more of a spicy note in the background that works. It's the taste that is a bit jarring with sourness and bitter, earthy hops. Moutfeel is a bit light for the hops. My least favorite Jolly Pumpkin by far.

Serving type: bottle

05-07-2008 01:38:28 | More by Georgiabeer

mothman

Saskatchewan (Canada)

3.35/5  rDev -12.1%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

Batch 373 - 3-17-11

Pours 1/2 finger of white head. Good retention with some lace rings. Color is a hazed autumn gold.

Aroma: Floral, herbal, and grassy. Fairly malty. Bready.

Taste: Very bready. More malts show here. Floral as well with a lot of grassy hops. Some light spices mixed in. A touch of oak as well.

Mouthfeel: Fairly bitter. Medium bodied with a medium amount of carbonation. Ends kind of sticky.

Overall, a decent beer, but a bit to floral and bitter. Decent drinking. Doesn't really fit the saison category too well, but it's fine.

Serving type: bottle

06-07-2011 13:22:44 | More by mothman

ccrida

Oregon

3.3/5  rDev -13.4%
look: 5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 4 | overall: 3

750 ml bottle (batch 280/281). Poured into my Meantime snifter, E.S. Bam is a hazy bronzed amber with a large bone colored head that is super tight and dense. Very slow to settle, the carbonation forms a mountain of foam rising up above the rest of the large head in the middle, lasting through the settling to the last sip. Very heavy lace. Wow, damn impressive! I was really worried this one would be a gusher. The first bottle I grabbed at the shop promptly burst (the glass broke with a muted dink) when I laid it on it's side in shop's the plastic hand held basket! I assumed the bugs had built up to strong, but this one didn't gush, or pour with excess froth...weird.

Smell is musty, slightly sweet caramel, toffee and raisins, with strong, spicy hop backbone. Not to bad, but very unusual for the style. Blindly, I'd guess English style IPA.

Taste is bone dry, not sweet, light funk and huge noble hop spice, with a bitter finish. I like the concept (I homebrew hoppy saisons myself), but I'm not in love with the hops they used here, which overpower the saison's underlying subtleties. Not bad, but not very exciting either, something about it just doesn't quite work out...much like Bam Noire, it pales to the original Bam.

Mouthfeel is is bubbly, but the specialty malts keep the body from being as thin and dry as regular Bam, although it's still very light and crisp.

Drinkability is ok, it's an easy drinker that's light in the belly and low in ABV. But the taste isn't that interesting, and gets a bit astringent after awhile.

Serving type: bottle

06-20-2008 00:28:05 | More by ccrida

Huhzubendah

District of Columbia

4.13/5  rDev +8.4%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

This beer appears a hazy, light brown with a nice, big head. Nice retention and lacing. Hops and brett aromas are very inviting. Some nice earthy notes as well. Distinctive Jolly pumpkin funkiness with a pleasant, sour finish. Smooth mouthfeel with a nice balance of carbonation / creaminess. Another tasty offering from Jolly Pumpkin.

Serving type: bottle

06-24-2010 03:08:25 | More by Huhzubendah

largadeer

California

4.03/5  rDev +5.8%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

Appearance: Dark amber, almost opaque. A thick, frothy three finger head forms from a gentle pour. JP beers always have fantastic head retention and this one is no exception.

Smell: Earthy, herbal hops with a slightly metallic undertone. This is pretty subtle in aroma, and it's very homogenous; I can't really pick out anything specific.

Taste & mouthfeel: Flavors of spice and savory herb (rosemary, sage) greet the palate immediately, leading to a hint of bitter lemon peel and tobacco. The mouthfeel is incredibly light, almost watery, and bone-dry. This is almost lambic-like in its dryness. The finish brings out an herbal hop note with a pleasant lingering bitterness. This is definitely hoppy for the style, though still pretty tame in the grand scheme of things.

Notes: Really nice stuff, I'm glad I decided to pick up a bottle of this.

Serving type: bottle

07-06-2008 20:28:00 | More by largadeer

Stinkypuss

Pennsylvania

4.35/5  rDev +14.2%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

Jolly Pumpkin : E.S. Bam

25oz bottle. Hazy, deep golden orange. Soapy white head with good staying power. Provides an abundance of brussels lace. In the smell, nice barnyard and hay elements. Also smells a bit funky and sour. In the taste, tart, sour, wheat, earthy hops and wild yeast funk. There is also a touch of citrus. Finishes with a nice hoppy bitterness with vague suggestions of pine. Mouthfeel is medium bodied, smooth, with prickly carbonation. Overall, a very good sour with a hint of hops. Dig it.

Serving type: bottle

09-30-2011 16:08:26 | More by Stinkypuss

OWSLEY069

Pennsylvania

4.13/5  rDev +8.4%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

Batch 267/268
Pours a deep red/ copper color with a big light tan head. In the aroma, small tartness, earthy, and small hop hints. In the taste, earthy, a small fruity tartness, and small hop presence up front. A bitter and a medium mouthfeel, and a small dry bitterness, and a green apple tartness in the aftertaste. Not a conventional ESB, nice green apple tartness, and a good hop presence. I don't think Jolly Pumpkin makes a bad beer.

Serving type: bottle

09-23-2008 13:47:40 | More by OWSLEY069

nickfl

Florida

3.73/5  rDev -2.1%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

A - Rocky, light brown head of foam on top of a hazy, dark brown body. The head retention is epic and when the foam eventually settles it leaves very nice lace.

S - Pine and lemon hop aromas that mesh well with the somewhat sour funk. A little bit of wheat character with musty wild yeast notes.

T - Sour caramel malts up front with lots of toasted grain. Light funk and spicy wheat in the middle with relatively light acidity. Finishes somewhat sour with toasted malt notes and light, lemony hop flavor. Lingering sour caramel character with light hop bitterness.

M - Medium body, moderately high carbonation, and a slightly dry finish.

D - I never know what to expect from JP and I try to come at their beers without and preconceptions, but in this case I couldn't help but hope for a strongly hoppy sour after seeing the label. The aroma certainly didn't dissapoint. Restrained funkiness blended nicely with spicy lemon and pine hops to create a nice, complex aromatic experience. Unfortunately the flavor did not deliver in the same way the aroma did. There were hints of the same complexity, but it was mostly bogged down by heavy, sour caramel malt and toast; something about this particular combination of bready malt and wild character just didn't work for me. I was also let down to find that the pleasant, spicy hop character form the aroma was mostly absent from the flavor. This really hurts the beer; those hops could have helped to balance out the weird malt and also may have brought out the complexity of the funk the way that they did in the aroma.

I have always felt that JP can be pretty hit and miss, and this one was a bit of a miss. Still, this sort of thing is just the price one pays for the thoroughly worthwhile hits like Weizen Bam.

Serving type: bottle

03-15-2010 07:30:15 | More by nickfl

smakawhat

Maryland

4.33/5  rDev +13.6%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

Poured on tap at Pizza Paradiso DC into a tumbler.

Big super foamy bubbles formed for an off white head. Sits on a dark amber brown/orange body that's kind of cloudy but lighter towards the bottom. Not much lacing while drinking.

First initial bouquet is sour, then extremely hoppy and spicy with a touch of salt. A big strange yeast bent is present with hints of almost bubbling acid/sulfurous sense. It does feel like an amped up Bam Biere.

Taste is quite unique, a very big hop bitterness and yeast, but the swallow is all so bretty like, with this sense of crisp acid. Swallow and closure is a feel of sourdough bread and salt. Really unique interesting taste on this brew.

Overall this is a real neat and fun beer, very complex palate and nose, lots of fun to go around.

Serving type: on-tap

05-05-2011 17:21:15 | More by smakawhat

FosterJM

California

4.03/5  rDev +5.8%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

496th review on BA
Bottle to Oversize Wine Glass
750 ML, Capped

App- A medium yellow with some orange highlights. Huge lacing all over the glass. A nice giant 2 finger head as well.

Smell- A very unique yeasty, peppery, saison with a little bit of hop bitter as well.

Taste- This was very tasty and unique, the balance of almost 3 to 4 flavors was very well done. The yeasty and the pepper worked well with the softness.

Mouth- A very light bodied with a high carbonation and a peppery, funky after taste.

Drink- This was good. It's along the lines of being with a Fantome for making me say, damn this is different and very tasty. Next year, ill grab another one of this.

Serving type: bottle

05-21-2011 02:05:15 | More by FosterJM

LilBeerDoctor

New York

3.85/5  rDev +1%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

Bottle. Pours brown with a thick light tan head. Aroma of sweet tart candies, light funkiness (barnyard funk). Flavor is sour, but not as sour as the aroma would suggest. Finish is dry and bitter. I'm a little disappointed given that this was supposed to be a hoppy farmhouse ale (or biter????), but overall I enjoyed the beer.
7/4/8/4/ (3.7/5)

Serving type: bottle

04-15-2009 21:45:04 | More by LilBeerDoctor

wordemupg

Alberta (Canada)

3.85/5  rDev +1%
look: 5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5

750ml bottle poured into tulip 14/10/12

A hazy golden peach with a a hands width of foam, I got about a 1 to 3 ration of liquid to foam, I still have more foam at the bottom of the glass then I had liquid when I poured it. the massive soapy head ends up as a pencil top eraser like island that pivots like a bobble bead doll when I tilt the glass.

Edit- I'm bumping this one up to perfect, my third pour left me with what can only be understood by someone who's gone down the Great Ocean Road outside Melbourne and seen London Bridge before it fell into the sea. my first bridge of foam crossing from one side of the glass to the other, NEAT!!

S holy funk batman, some tea bag herbal notes with some citric and leafy hops but the Brett is firmly in charge and I didn't see it coming, Beers this funky normally have a little more going on other then the funk, don't get me wrong though I'm enjoying this one

T more of the same really, funky herbal notes and leafy almost grassy dried hay come out, I want to say soapy but it just might be all the foam filling my mind with suds

M a small sip explodes instantly upon entering the mouth, pretty lively even for the style, very airy and foamy with a little grittiness left behind with a herbal tea leaf funk aftertaste

O for some reason I wasn't expecting a a funk bomb and I'm surprised how simple but funky this one is. I'm amazed this one didn't explode when I opened it with how carbonated it is, respectable beer though don't get me wrong

Unexpected qualities, mostly a good thing, something you could easily session but you might win a burping contest along the way. very funky and heavily carbonated low alc% brew, worth a shot for sure

Serving type: bottle

10-15-2012 07:31:30 | More by wordemupg

champ103

Texas

3.83/5  rDev +0.5%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

A: Pours an amber/orange color. A small head forms and recedes to leave some patchy lace.
S: Funky barnyard and malty biscuit aromas. Some citrus and nice hop bitterness that is well balanced. Enjoyable.
T: Follows the nose. Funky biscuit malt. A bit tart. Very light citrus hops.
M/D: Medium bodied that is well carbonated. Kind of thin and watery. Not really a session beer for me, but it is not hard to drink at all.

A good saison. One I enjoyed and would recommend.

Serving type: bottle

09-01-2008 14:16:45 | More by champ103

alexgash

Connecticut

4.58/5  rDev +20.2%
look: 5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 5

750 ml bottle, Batch 273,274.

Deep, slightly murky, dark copper with brassy edges. Tall, thick, rocky, bright light khaki head. Exquisite lacing. Perky, bright, citrus and evergreen hops on the nose. Some floral/herbal qualities as well. Shortbread cookie malt backbone with a cedar-y, sourish edge. The very welcome Jolly Pumpkin funk is there, but not overpowering.

Toasted malt and hop bitterness up front. Piny and citrusy, yet with an herbal, noble edge. Caramel and biscuit malt in the background, accented by tart cherry and lacto-sourness. Hints of wood, before a fresh citrus hop finish. The citrus from the hops and the tartness from the wild bugs work great together. Latent wisps of brown sugar malt at the very end. Moderate body with a refreshing, yet smooth feel.

Another terrific beer from JP! If this gets put in 6 packs I will drink it all summer (if not, I'll have to buy a keg!).

Serving type: bottle

03-12-2008 02:27:46 | More by alexgash

GClarkage

California

3.58/5  rDev -6%
look: 5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

07/23/08- Purcahsed at City Beer in San Francisco, CA.

Presentation- 750ml bottle with no freshness info found. Poured into my Trout Slayer weizen glass.

Appearance- Deep golden in color, if not approaching a light amber color. Yeast infused with small and larger floaties. Head becomes quite large upon pour...one inch plus very easily. Large bubbled, frothy, lightly creamy looking. Lacing is exceptional with chunks, streaks and spotting all over the glass.

Smell- Definite hops. Grapefruit pith rather than the juice or peel. Quite bitter in the nose. Also a decent amount of white pepper in the mix.

Taste- Hoppy for sure. Very bitter with a slight touch of sweetness upon the swallow which fades quickly. White pepper abounds as well. Seems like a one hop brew as it's very straight forward. Would have liked more sweetness. The hops carry the show, but seems like a one trick pony.

Mouthfeel- Very crisp, but also a very heavy carbonation level. Slightly drying mouthfeel.

Drinkability- I like my hoppy saisons and tripels, but his one seems a bit too hoppy with nothing really to back it up in the flavor sense. It's not a bad beer, in fact is was good for what it was, just needs something else.

Serving type: bottle

07-24-2008 15:49:39 | More by GClarkage

drpimento

Wisconsin

3.48/5  rDev -8.7%
look: 5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3

Hmm, interesting idea: cross an esb with a tart saison. Technically well crafted, aesthetically doesn't quite work for me. Poured with fabulous huge, foamy, frothy, thick, cream colored head that just sits there and lots of lace. Color is an almost clear amber brown. Aroma is floral, yeast, hops, malt, sour. Flavor is like nose, but no sweetness at all, completely dry, sour/bitter. Body is good and carbonation for the style - I'm not sure. Finish is like flavor except has flash of nuttiness that helps and is fairly long. I'll finish this but don't want any more

Serving type: bottle

07-05-2010 00:26:07 | More by drpimento