Jolly Pumpkin / Nøgne-Ø / Stone Special Holiday Ale

10/10. Quite possibly the best beer I have had. Ever. In the history of everything. If you can find it, get as many as you financially can. The sage is what hits you first, but give it a few seconds and the malt and berries start playing a sexy game of Sirocco on your tongue while a warm alcohol note caresses the back of your throat.


I'd elaborate, but doing so would necessitate moving this thread to the Boneyard.



That is all.

In 2008, after tasting this beer at a Christmas party, I spent the next month tracking them down and bought a half-dozen 12 oz. bottles at $5/ea!

I was able to save two of them for last year and did a vertical tasting with some friends of 2009's beer. The spice in the '08 had mellowed dramatically, revealing a complex, malty beer. However, the '09 was preferred by most of us for that spice kick-in-the-teeth.

This beer is unexplainably awesome about 4-5 beers into a session. It just cuts through all the bullsH!+ without just ruining your palate.

+1,000,000

Love Jolly Pumpkin. They have a brewPub restaurant in Traverse City on one of the peninsulas that has insanely awesome food and some great Sours on tap.

boostsr20 said:

Love Jolly Pumpkin. They have a brewPub restaurant in Traverse City on one of the peninsulas that has insanely awesome food and some great Sours on tap.

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Yes they do I was there last weekend drinking some special brews with the brewer in the brew house.

Pat

I've only had Stone's version so far, but it was a very very good beer.

Finally got around to picking up Nogne-O's version and cant wait to try it.

Patiently waiting for Jolly Pumpkin's version this year.

Ah yes, I should note this was the Nøgne-Ø version, brewed in Grimstad.

Probably why it put me back $12 for a 1/2L.

Had this the other night. F'ing delicious... might be one of my favorite beers ever. I am definitely going to have to hunt down some of the Jolly Pumpkin version.

I've had a JP bottle of it for a year or so. I should probably get around to drinking it. Is it a Wild ale?

Nope, it's just a dark, spicy and delicious beer.

Hmmm, just looked at my bottle and it reads "sour ale". Maybe its the same recipe but JP sours theirs.

I should probably note (since this is getting a lot of attention now) that this is a 3-part brew-fest between Jolly Pumpkin, Nogne-O and Stone, each producing an individually different brew: The Stone Blog » Collaboration REDUX at Jolly Pumpkin this Sunday!

The one I tried above had this label:

boostsr20 said:

Hmmm, just looked at my bottle and it reads "sour ale". Maybe its the same recipe but JP sours theirs.

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Nice. I'll definitely need to find a bottle, then.