Anchorage Brewing Company / Jolly Pumpkin Artisan Ales Calabaza Boreal Saison at 7% ABV | 40 IBU (C$12.95 at Andrew Hilton Wine & Spirits, 750 ml, packaged on 1-Nov-2015, acquired 18-Jun-2018, reviewed 18-Jun-2018)
Appearance: clear straw with two fingers of fluffy growing white head, excellent retention and moderate soapy lacing. (5/5) Aroma: sharp grapefruit pith and flesh, dry hay funk, leather, peppercorn, oak. (8/10) Taste: moderate sweet, moderate bitter, light tart. (8/10) Palate: medium-light body, moderate-high carbonation, dry moderate bitter and tart finish. (4/5)
High hopes here – Anchorage and Jolly Pumpkin? Sign me up! And, damn, if that ain’t some serious shit right there. I’m a bit disappointed that the grapefruit doesn’t come through as strongly as was promised by the label, but to be honest I’m such a fiend for grapefruit at this point that you’d pretty much have to inject the beer into a whole Ruby Red and serve it to me with a straw to make me happy. This, however, compensates for that absence pretty well, with Mosaic and Galaxy hops, oak foudres, Saison and Brett yeasts – it’s like they know me. More to the point, the only pumpkin here is in the brewery name, which is all to the good, as far as I’m concerned: coming off frost warnings on Father’s Day and having to put on an extra coat to stay around the post-feast campfire, I don’t even want to think about fall yet. Or at all, actually. Is the retirement fund to the point where I can biannually swap hemispheres and avoid that shit yet? No? Fuck. More beer! (16/20)
8/10 #ryansbooze ryansbooze.com
