Jesterking Thrash Metal

Austin's Jesterking is in my honest opinion one of the most exciting breweries in the country. From doing collaborations with gypsy brewer Mikkeller to taking on the man with a lawsuit against TABC, and of course making great beer, Jesterking does it all. From starting out bottling just a couple of beers, it seems they are now adding new bottled beer every week and sometimes two a week. To me the coolest thing they do is they are using all farmhouse yeasts, and not traditional ale yeasts. These yeasts which can be difficult to brew, add incredible complexity to a beer as well if handled properly. One of their latest is Thrash Metal a self proclaimed American Strong ale.
The Beer: Well its strong alright weighing in at 9.3% and it pours a hazy golden color with a thick dense head of white foam. The nose is full of white fruit, peaches, and pineapples. Yeasty bready notes. The first sip reveals mild carbonation, medium body, notes of honeysuckle, pineapple, breadyness. It finishes dry, which balances some of the up front sweet flavors. A slight funky barnyardness character comes out as the beer warms. This added complexity surely comes from the use of the farmhouse yeast. Some lemony and orange notes finish up this beer adding just a bit of acidic balance. Deceptively strong as I never really tasted the alcohol this one is a well balanced very food friendly winner of a beer.

News, Notes, and Upcoming Events

Its been a while since I've done a news round up, but there has been a few things that have occurred this week that I wanted to post on.

- First off, in some awesome news, HB602 has passed!!!! For those that have been reading this blog, this is something we've been hoping for for many many years. Now, this is the updated version of HB602 that answered some of my earlier concerns. It's still tied to tours and there is still a limit, but its worded as such that you can go to Live Oak and pick up a growler of their amazing Hefeweizen. Next up is the Senate, where SB1863 is the companion bill to the bill that passed the house. This bill was sponsored by Ft. Worth, State Senator Wendy Davis (anyone notice that the folks that are championing small business are Democrats?). It is currently in committee, but hopefully it will pass and Governor Perry will sign it in to law. If all goes smoothly, this September, you will be able to go to a local brewery, go through a tour and pick up some beer while there.

- In not so good news, I think that HB 660 is dead. This is the bill that would allow brewpubs to sell their beer through distributors. However this beer is sitting in committee, which in my experience in following these things is code for its dead and the committee is full of too many cowards that won't even put the bill up for a vote. Having said that, those that supported this bill, don't ever give up hope. It took 3 separate session to get the brewery bill passed, and HB 660 got much further on their first try then the original brewery bill did back in 2007.

- In one more example of why I am extremely excited at what Jester King Brewery is doing, they write this post on farmhouse ales. A great post on what farmhouse brewing is, what it takes to make a great farmhouse ale, and how Jester King is going about creating some truly unique Texas Hill Country beers.

- Finally in the upcoming events announcements, Real Ale will be finishing up their local tour tomorrow at Anvil. They've hosted tappings at The Flying Saucer on Thursday, and Petrol Station today. Tomorrow at Anvil, Real Ale brewer Erik Ogershok will be available to answer questions (just as he was at Saucer and Petrol), on tap though is where it gets really exciting: Lost Gold IPA, cask-conditioned Lost Gold IPA and the barrel-aged version known as Empire. So if you want to get your fill of Lost Gold in all of its many different version, head over to Anvil, for its 5pm Tapping.

Texas Three Step

No, its not a new dance that you'll see folks doing at your favorite honkey tonk. Instead this post will be about three beers newly available in bottles from some exciting new breweries from Texas. The breweries I'm talking about are Jester King out in the Hill Country and Ranger Creek in San Antonio. Jester King excites me for a couple of reasons. The first being is that they are taking an aggressive approach to being a Farmhouse brewery, starting from day one on developing a barrel program, and harvesting local wild yeasts from the surrounding hill country. Additionally, they are not only making the extreme high alcohol beers that craft brewers love, they are making amazingly flavorful lower alcohol beers. The first up was Commercial Suicide a English Dark Mild ale weighing in at 3.8%. However they are also making a Belgian tafelbier (or table) that I'll be excited to try. Another interesting thing that Jester King does is that all the beers are partially made with harvested rain water which is pretty cool. I'm excited about Ranger Creek for different reasons. They are not only a craft brewer, but a craft distillery as well. My hope for them is that as they produce great bourbon, they'll re-use those barrels to age some amazing beers. Jester King Wytchmaker: A bottle conditioned rye IPA weighing in at 81 IBU and 6.1%. An amazing looking label, I love the art work that Jester King uses. I enjoy that all the ingredients the beers use are on the label, each malt, each hop, each yeast (English ale in this case). Hops used were Warrior, Simcoe, Amarillo, Cascade, and Centennial. Malt bill contained 15% rye. The beer pours a cloudy hazy copper brown, with a thick off white head. Lots of hops on the nose, citrusy with just a hint of pine and some pale malts. The mouthfeel is medium bodied, spicey, grapefruit, citrus peel, piney. Some notes of white pepper, spicey. Lots of rye bread notes. A very good beer, I give an A to. Jester King Black Metal: A bottle conditioned Imperial Stout, yes please! 10.4% and 60 IBU's this beer pours a viscous oily black with a quarter inch reddish cafe colored head. Dark chocolate, coffee, and roasted malts on the nose. Thick chewy mouthfeel, denser than I remember from having this on draft previously. Notes of chocolate, dark and milky. Coffee with creamer, some roasted malts. Earthy hops at the finish. Its a huge beer, but highly drinkable. Another wonderful beer that gets an A from me. Ranger Creek La Bestia Aimable: This is Ranger Creek's take on a Belgian Strong Ale, named after the Aimable, the ship La Salle used, landed at Matagorda Bay to claim Texas for France. The beer weighs in at 9.4% with 25 IBU's and pours a hazy cloudy brown with a thin frothy head. Very malty nose, full of raisins and figs some caramel and yeasty notes. Medium bodied, rich concentrated dark fruits like figs and raisins. Caramelized figs with balsamic. Notes of honey, creme caramel, very smooth and easy drinking. A thoroughly enjoyable beer.

Jester King Event at Anvil

Relatively new brewery Jester King is having a major beer bash at Anvil this coming Saturday, that should be a must go to local craft beer folks.
I've been impressed with JK ever since I had their English Dark Mild a few months back. An amazing beer that clocks in at a very sessionable 3.8%. Since that time, they've released a very good Imperial Stout and a Rye IPA. Anvil was the first place in Houston to get their beers and is hosting what looks like a pretty solid event. I just recieved the press release so here are the details:

And now, on Saturday, February 26 at 4pm, Anvil’s co-owner Kevin Floyd announces a special Jester King Craft Brewery Day, where he will tap six different Jester King brews, some of which are limited editions. Jeff Stuffings, one of the three “jesters” who own and operate the Austin-based craft brewery will be there to meet Anvil customers and to talk beer and the Jester King philosophy of brewing with anyone who wants to chat with him.
What’s on Tap to Drink?
CASKS:
Dry Hopped Wychmaker Rye IPA cask:
This is one of the first Dry Hopped Wychmaker Casks to come out of the Jester King brewery. Wytchmaker is brewed with organic base malt, 15% malted rye and 3 lbs. of hops per barrel. It’s an aggressively hopped rye IPA, but is mashed at a low temperature and sparingly uses unfermentable malts to finish dry.

Black Metal RIS cask:
A big hit when it was released around Christmas, Black Metal is Jester King’s winter seasonal release. Weighing in at about 10% ABV, it’s filled with huge flavors of roast, chocolate, burnt malt and alcohol and carries a hint of leather. This is the second brewing of this Imperial Stout, but the first time the Jester King guys have offered it in a cask.

KEGS:
Boxer's Revenge Farmhouse Provision Ale keg:
A farmhouse-style blonde ale, Boxer Revenge is aged in French oak barrels with wild yeast, heavily dry hopped and about 9% ABV; it is also the first of three authentic farmhouse ales to be brewed as part of Jester King’s year-round lineup. This particular keg is one of a few left over from the Jester King Grand Opening party held in Austin the last weekend in January.

Wychmaker Rye IPA keg:
Compare it to the cask!

Commercial Suicide Oaked Dark Mild keg:
A blend of 70% dark mild and 30% dark mild aged in medium toast, Kentucky oak barrels (new barrels, not whiskey). At 3.3% ABV, they packed as much flavor as possible into a true session ale. The malted barley and hops in the beer are all English.

Commercial Suicide, aged in Whiskey barrel keg:
Aged in George Dickel Tennessee whiskey barrels, and originally released in November, 2010.