Jolly Pumpkin Artisan Ales is a

brewery A brewery or brewing company is a business that makes and sells beer. The place at which beer is commercially made is either called a brewery or a beerhouse, where distinct sets of brewing equipment are called plant. The commercial brewing of b ...

Dexter, Michigan Dexter is a city in Washtenaw County, Michigan, in the United States. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 4,500. Established in 1830 as a village, Dexter was incorporated as a city on November 20, 2014. History On Mar ...

founded by Ron and Laurie Jeffries in 2004. Jolly Pumpkin produces unfiltered and

unpasteurized In food processing, pasteurization (American and British English spelling differences#-ise, -ize (-isation, -ization), also pasteurisation) is a process of food preservation in which packaged foods (e.g., milk and fruit juices) are treated wi ...

beers.

Production

Jolly Pumpkin beers are aged in oak, including

wine barrels Wine is an alcoholic drink made from Fermentation in winemaking, fermented fruit. Yeast in winemaking, Yeast consumes the sugar in the fruit and converts it to ethanol and carbon dioxide, releasing heat in the process. Wine is most often made f ...

, former bourbon barrels and large foudres. The wood contains naturally occurring

microbiological culture A microbiological culture, or microbial culture, is a method of multiplying microorganism, microbial organisms by letting them reproduce in predetermined culture medium under controlled laboratory conditions. Microbial cultures are foundational a ...

s including

brettanomyces ''Brettanomyces'' is a non-spore forming genus of yeast in the family Saccharomycetaceae, and is often colloquially referred to as "Brett". The genus name ''Dekkera'' is used interchangeably with ''Brettanomyces'', as it describes the teleomor ...

. These cultures impart a flavor profile in the beers described as leathery, earthy, wild and funky. This style of beer has been described as farmhouse ale or American wild ale. The Jolly Pumpkin beer is aged anywhere from 4 weeks up to 2 years or more.

Reception

Their Oro de Calabaza won the 2004 Gold and the 2005 Bronze Medal in the Belgian- and French-style ale category at the

Great American Beer Festival The Great American Beer Festival (GABF) is an annual beer festival hosted by the Brewers Association, held in Denver, Colorado. Typically held in late September or early October, the event is currently held at Denver's Colorado Convention Cente ...

. Their Bam Bière won the Bronze Medal in the 2009 Great American Beer Festival and was named the 21st best beer in America by ''

Men's Journal ''Men's Journal'' was an American men's lifestyle magazine focused on outdoor recreation and comprising editorials on the outdoors, environmental issues, health and fitness, style and fashion, and gear. It was founded in 1992 by Jann Wenner of ...

''.

Products

Year-round beers

Year-round beers include: *Oro de Calabaza ("Pumpkin gold") (8%

abv Alcohol by volume (abbreviated as alc/vol or ABV) is a common measure of the amount of alcohol contained in a given alcoholic beverage. It is defined as the volume the ethanol in the liquid would take if separated from the rest of the solution, ...

), described as a Franco-Belgian-style strong

golden ale Pale ale is a golden to amber coloured beer style brewed with pale malt. The term first appeared in England around 1703 for beers made from malts dried with high-carbon coke, which resulted in a lighter colour than other beers popular at that ...

. *La Roja (7.2% abv), a

Flanders red ale Flanders red ale or Flemish red-brown, is a style of sour ale brewed in West Flanders, Belgium. Flanders red ale is fermented with organisms other than ''Saccharomyces cerevisiae'', especially '' Lactobacillus'', which produces a sour charact ...

. *Bam Bière (4.5% abv), described as a light farmhouse ale or

saison Saison ( French, "season," ) is a pale-colored ale that is highly carbonated, dry, fruity, spicy, and often bottle conditioned. It was historically brewed with low alcohol levels, but modern productions of the style have moderate to high leve ...

. *Blanca (4.8% abv), low calories farmhouse

witbier Wheat beer is a top-fermented beer which is brewed with a large proportion of wheat relative to the amount of malted barley. The two main varieties are German and Belgian ; other types include Lambic (made with wild yeast), Berliner Weisse (a ...

Special releases

Their occasionally available Grand Reserve beers include: *La Roja Krieked: A version of this beer aged with cherries was offered at the 2008 Michigan Brewers Guild Festival. *Madrugada Obscura Grand Reserve: This was barrel-aged for 18 months. It was offered only on draft at the First Annual

Stone In geology, rock (or stone) is any naturally occurring solid mass or aggregate of minerals or mineraloid matter. It is categorized by the minerals included, its Chemical compound, chemical composition, and the way in which it is formed. Rocks ...

Sour Fest in July 2007 and was a special tap at the 2008 Michigan Brewers Guild Festival. *Perseguidor ("Pursuer"): A limited-release, custom-blended ale which is oak-aged an additional six months before release. There have been five releases. **Batch 1 (7.2% abv): A blend of Bam Biere and La Roja This batch was offered at the 2006 Michigan Brewers Guild Festival and released during the fall of 2006. **Batch 2 (8% abv): Also known as "Oro de Calabaza Reserve," this batch was a blend of Oro de Calabaza and Bam Biere. This batch was only offered on draft at the First Annual

Sour Fest in July 2007. **Batch 3 (abv unknown): This was offered at the 2008 Michigan Brewers Guild Festival and released in 750mL Bottles in early August 2008. **Batch 4: released January 2009. A blend of 3-year-old La Roja, 3-year-old Madrugada Obscura and 1-year-old Noel de Calabaza. Conditioned for 6 months in 12-ounce bottles. **Batch 5: released January 17, 2010. A blend of La Roja Grand Reserve, Luciernaga Grand Reserve, and Bam Biere Grand Reserve. Blend was aged on oak for 6 months and then bottle-conditioned for 6 months. 480 bottles were produced.

Production

Reception

Products

Year-round beers

Special releases

See also