Brewery: Jolly Pumpkin Artisan Ales in collaboration with Stillwater Artisanal
Beer: Some of my Best Friends are Pinchadiscos
Style: Saison/Farmhouse Ale
ABV: 7.2%
Character: Brewed with wild lime and rose lemongrass tea
Ratings: BeerAdvocate: 4.01 | Untappd: 3.81
Metal Connection: TIAMAT – Best Friend Money Can Buy
This is Some of my Best Friends are Pinchadiscos, which is Spanish for DJ. So this is basically Some of my Best Friends are Fucking DJ’s. Crazy name for a beer. This comes to us from Jolly Pumpkin Artisinal Ales from Michigan. These guys have been distributed to San Antonio for a couple of years now, and several of their catalog has been around town at certain Craft Beer stores and bars. Jolly Pumpkin is a fun brewery with a wild and crazy portfolio to back up such a fun brewery name. Their beers are all sours, and they release a few year round beers, some beers as part of a series, and then they do their collaborations. This is where our beer comes in. Some of my Best Friends are Pinchadiscos is a Saison/Farmhouse Ale brewed in collaboration with gypsy brewer, Stillwater Artisanal, who also make some fantastic beers on their own.
This is a Sour Fruit Saison, coming in at 7.2% ABV, 25 IBUs. This beer was brewed with added Anhui wild lime and rose lemongrass tea, then aged in oak for 13 months. Like I said, these guys are fun, and love to experiment a little.
First let’s talk about the label. Just like all the other Jolly Pumpkin beers, this one has unique label art. The words “Some of my Best Friends are” is written in a hand written style font, then the word Pinchadiscos is drawn out really large in red in a hand drawn box letter style. The actual art piece is of a man in a turquoise colored suit and hat looking like a wandering musician with an instrument case in one hand. I think it is a trombone case. In his other hand is a suitcase, presumably full of clothes. He is standing on a street corner looking towards a building as if he is trying to figure out if he is in the right spot. There is graffiti all over the buildings. Actually really cool label.
I poured this beer into a recommended tulip style glass, which is from a local San Antonio brewery, Ranger Creek Brewing & Distilling. Good bunch of folks over there making some fine liquids. Our featured beer here pours a hazy (yuck, I said the H word), a not clear golden yellow color topped with a large 1 inch foamy white head on this initial pour. Very little head retention as a thin layer right around the top of the beer, which left small soap suds-like lacing down the glass.
With the aroma, the Lime dominated the nose, with the sour funk filling up the nose soon after. Some hint of honey, wet grass, biscuit bread, farmhouse funk, hay, floral, lemongrass, and herbal tea made up the bulk of the aroma. Lime, farmhouse funk, and herbal tea linger a bit after each whiff.
With the taste the Lime and lemongrass really hit the palate first. The body was made up of the same characters I got in the nose like farmhouse funk, wet grass, hay, floral notes, and herbal tea with a biscuit bread backbone. The lime, lemongrass, and herbal tea again made up the aftertaste in this beer.
The body was on the heavier side of medium. Not overly thick, but definitely not thin either. Slick and oily mouthfeel with a slight puckering tartness. Mild carbonation, and this one finished dry.
Overall, I did rate this beer a 4.25/5, which means this is an excellent beer that I highly enjoyed. I know for a fact that I have seen these bottles still around in the local stores around me, so I’m sure if Jolly Pumpkin is distributed to your area, you might be able to still get a hold of this wonderful creation, and I recommend you do so. I have checked into over 15 different beers by Jolly Pumpkin, and early on, the ones I had were traded, as it was well before distribution hit my area. I have only been able to put up two other beer reviews of their product, but trust me when I say that these guys do not put out a bad product. At least the beers I have had from them have all been good, and I always look forward to my next JP purchase.
Metal Connection: Among the brutality of Death Metal, and the pure evilness of Black Metal, there is a style of Gothic Doom/Rock that I highly enjoy. One of those bands leading the charge in this genre is Sweden’s own Tiamat. I have been a fan of this band since their early Doom/Death Metal days when I was introduced to their music from their 1991 full length album, The Astral Sleep. Then they hit my black heart once again with their next full length album, Clouds in 1992. I have followed their career and purchased each album of their entire discography. In 1999, they released Skeleton Skeletron, their 6th full length album. On this album is where we find our Metal Connection with the song “Best Friend Money Can Buy.” This song is driven by a piano based background, also heavy with the bass guitar. It’s very slow, and a perfect example of Gothic Doom Rock. They have female backing vocals which work very well along side Johan Edlund’s deep ghostly voice. When reading the lyrics, I can only imagine our subject speaking of a hooker he met at a bar. I wouldn’t put it past them their, as their lyrics are always pretty dirty and raunchy. Please listen to this song with an open mind if you are one who is only into really heavy shit. Enjoy this track while sipping on a sour funky Saison by Jolly Pumpkin. Cheers!
Beer Metal Media 