JOLLY PUMPKIN “BAM BIERE”, STRAIGHT OUTTA THE FARMHOUSE

I love some of the weirdo eccentricities of the craft beer “scene” – the deep contemplation given to “lacing on the glass”, the discerning of flavors that probably aren’t even there (“I’m getting some pomegranate in this when I swirl it around – sniff – hmm, now I’m getting a little burnt rye toast – sniff"), the use of the word “Brettanomyces” (or much worse, shortening it to “Brett”), and when American and European brewers go overboard to market their beers as authentic “farmhouse” beers, with all the hoeing, plowing, overall-wearing and manual labor that implies. Forgive me if I’m giving this JOLLY PUMPKIN BAM BIERE “farmhouse” saison short shrift as a result – it just happens to be the most recently-consumed beer of mine, and hence a convenient placeholder for my mirthmaking.

My comrade Trub Wortwurst from LAGERHEADS and from the great state of Michigan was kind enough to send me this offering from Dexter, MI. Have heard many good things about JOLLY PUMPKIN – that fella Dan Shelton we told you about a few weeks ago, the one who ranted in fine fashion all over the Craft Beer Radio podcast, called them out as one of the only US craft brewers who “gets it right”. I’ll say this – this farmhouse saison has some good things going on in it, and it’s the kind of beer where you instantly know that there’s an experimental, creative, smart-as-a-whip brewer standing behind the mash tun. It just wasn’t really my thing. A little on the funky, yeasty side – slightly sour, maybe redolent of some acidic stuff. No real taste that I could grab onto and say, “Wow – that’s really delicious”. It could actually be my relative unfamiliarity with the saison style, so I’m going to go with a 6/10 and revisit this one someday, when I get through this batch of saisons to compare it to. Thanks again to Wortwurst for giving me the hand up and the hand out!