Beer Review 63: Jolly Pumpkin Biere de Mars

Jolly Pumpkin Brewery as you well know by now is one of my favorite breweries out there. They fine people over in Dexter, Michigan hardly ever produce a bad beer. Tonight, Biere de Mars is no exception, this might be along with La Roja my favorite beer they release each year. This beer is brewed in the French style stock ale. Biere de Mars is aged in oak barrels and brewed using two different yeast strains giving this beer a unique and complex profile. Furthermore, Biere de Mars is a seasonal beer released in March, so keep your eyes open and pick up a few; some to drink now others to lay down. Moreover, this brew isn't pricey at all for the quantity and quality you get. At $13.99 a bottle for a 750 ml, I believe you are getting a steal when it comes to barrel aged sour beer. Biere de Mars is absolutely drinkable, bottled at a 7% abv this beer is smooth and refreshing. Like all Jolly Pumpkin beer's make sure to enjoy them in the proper glass and with a proper serving size. With Biere de Mars its best to use either a tulip or goblet style glass, both of which usually suffice for a 9.4 oz serving size. This is a very good beer, one that you should consider buy plenty off if you are a sour beer fan and also if you are one of those who is just starting to get into the style. Biere de Mars is a quality beer, enjoy!

Color: Brownish red hues for this beer.... glows differently from every angle. A hazy beer, not plenty of light getting through this one. A nickle sized head forms after the pour of the off white shade. Some minor soapy lacing is left on the glass as you drink the beer down.

Nose: Big funky smells come from this beer. Vinegar comes up at the forefront followed by some wicked barnyard scents. Dried pit fruit floats around in the glass and the smell of apples and cranberries swim in the background.

Palate: Interesting! mellow sourness/tart. Funky and fruity with a medium body feel. The drinkability is awesome.... the carbonation is spot on and the abv is well masked. As the beer warms it gets a tad more complex,but a bit harder to drink, but not really a bad thing.

Finish: Dry and tart with a lingering texture of sour fruit and mild vinegar. I really enjoyed this brew. I wish it was available a lot more especially in California. JP another solid brew!

Rating: 94 out of 100