I know most people from Ohio like to avoid Michigan and anything related especially if you are Buckeye Fans! Even if you are that “guy” you might want to give Jolly Pumpkin a shot anyway. Jolly Pumpkin is a small brewery that produces some pretty outstanding beers from Michigan.

We were fortunate enough to get our hands on several of their beers to look at this summer and winter. But with the heat we have had lately and the training days getting longer, nothing sounded better then a Wit or Blanca, Calabaza Blanca.

Calabaza Blanca is a Belgian Biere Blanche (Belgian White Beer) is aged in large oak casks and refermented in the bottle, Calabaza. Spiced with orange peel and coriander, you'll find it refreshingly tart, with a wonderfully dry finish.

Details:
Production: Year round
Alcohol: 4.8% Alc./Vol.
Bottle Size 750ml bottles - 12 case

Jolly Pumpkin beers are numbered and dated, and we batch 518 which was bottled 3-4-10.

Calabaza Blanca pours a hazy yellow maybe a little straw color with a very thick long-lasting white head and a lace that sort of glued itself to the edge of the glass. This is a very carbonated beer that I just let “sit and breathe” for a couple of minutes before drinking.

On the nose, coriander and spice initially, but is overtaken with sweet orange peel and a wheat and a bit of oak. Sourness is there but after a few sips, it takes a back seat to all the spice and coriander that is upfront. A little bit of orange peel and grassy wheat round out this wit to leave it well balanced.

Dry finish, very prickly and sharp carbonation. It ends very clean and pretty refreshing. A little bit of lemon lingers in the throat.

This is truly wonderful white ale. The oak aging adds a lot of complexity and the flavors really work together. One of the more expensive wits on the market, about $13 for 750ml., but you get something a little different.

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