A grand return to an old Jolly Pumpkin beer I haven’t tried since 2011, or at least the grand reserve version. I posted the old review on this site in October 2012 thought when I finally started doing my reviews publicly. At the time, I was involved in a car accident which thankfully I came out alive. At the time, I had saved the reserve version of the beer to try it and I really wanted to give it a shot since I figured, a great life is worth living it for what you love to do. In the essence of that beer, I had to bring the original to the stage. While my flavor palate has matured, the original beer vs. the Grand Reserve may vary. So in essence, you be the judge of how you want your beer to be. Cheers!

2011 Grand Reserve Review (https://brewerianimelogs.wordpress.com/2012/10/17/biere-de-mars-grand-reserve-by-jolly-pumpkin/)

Aromas:
Stone fruits like peach, mango, apricots, dark cherries, strawberry, plums, pears, green apples, musty wild yeast, wine grapes, sour notes, bananas, caramel, butterscotch,rye bread, hints of hazelnut, dark fruit raisins, fig hints, oak, vanilla, brown sugar, floral notes, farm house hay, tobacco and leather.

Flavors:
Dulce de leche caramel, vanilla, oak , dark cherry yogurt, rich strawberries, stone fruits like apricots, mango, plums, peaches and cream, pear, hazelnut hints, rye bread, coriander spice, citrus, lemon peel, apple cider, tart grapefruit, butterscotch, bananas, clove spice hints, coriander spice hints, musty wild yeast, peppercorns, tobacco, leather, wine grapes, floral notes, farmhouse hay, chocolate hints, brown sugar, white grapes, dark fruit raisins and figs.

Aftertaste:
Caramel, peaches, sweet bread, dark cherry yogurt hints, rye bread, oak, vanilla, lemon peel, citrus and apple cider. No alcohol in the taste, a sipping beer, fully body and full mouthfeel.

Overall:
A great example of a Biere de Garde done right. This is very delicious. Sour notes mainly turn into tart but sweet notes while maintaining a backlog of sourness to remind you. This why when you are a brewery that only concentrates at the Sour ales you are good at, you can truly make magic. There aren;t a lot of sour breweries or breweries in general that make beer this good. Even I have a rough time with some of the Bruery sours admittedly sometimes. Needless to say, this beer brings me back to the days I would always get Jolly Pumpkin beers and remind me of where my sour tasting roots came from. I definitely recommend this one without a doubt. Even some people that do not like sours may tolerate or even fully enjoy this one for sure.

Anime Corner:
Vocaloid Hatsune Miku in her art design by subaru01rins was used in this pairing because I wanted to pair something similar to the original artwork I used for the grand reserve long ago. When I stumbled upon the T-Shirt at Anime Expo which was made by WeLoveFine (http://www.welovefine.com/6946-i-am-your-melody.html#.U9hlYfldVuN) I had to buy it. After looking at the artwork, it was very bad ass and made me realize why I chose the tron evil looking being with the red eyes back then. It had to do with the fact that in the label, the wind blowing the ship represented the the blowing the light of hope. While Miku looks evil here, either way, by her saying ‘I AM YOUR MELODY’ it plays at the whole aspect of evil blowing in the wind. Not to say that she is evil, but more like say that while you may have a good side, you also have a bad side that tries to balance who you are. Biere de Mars (Especially because of my birthday) represents a lot and in the sense of importance. It goes to show that even in the most sourest of states, the sweetness will be there to balance things out. Just like the beer. Oh yeah and also, the fruits like the sweet strawberries, are represented by the crimson eyes of Miku. Green is the color of the sour apples.