Ok, so I'm in Denver at wallabys liquor and grabbing some beers to take home. Get to the bomber section and see a couple bottles with super cool, almost walking dead-esque labels. Grab one, look at it, farmhouse ipa. Cool. Love both styles. Grab it. Grab another saison. Do a little research today and I'm not sure how it was even in Denver as it looks like they only distribute in Texas. See great reviews and I could wait to try it. Got home and started to cook supper. Popped the top. Oh my god. Literally my favorite beer. So much going on. Great hop nose and taste. Finishes with some Brett funk. Really kicking myself for not grabbing a bunch of bottles. Did some research on YouTube and saw an interview on a channel called beer diaries(you shoul watch it). It's really cool to see their approach to beer. Really taking it to another level with their wild Yeats. True terroir.
Jester king brewing
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North Dakota people aren't supposed to poach our stash! Send it all back now!
I've got a bottle of the Wytchmaker, too, and am waiting to try it.
I've got a bottle of the Wytchmaker, too, and am waiting to try it.
I didn't think they distributed outside of TX either. They're an awesome little brewery based in Austin, though. Lots of unique tasty Farmhouse style beers. Their Metal series is all great.
MTate37
Well-Known Member
I'm in Alabama, so outside of trading I don't have a ton of exposure to a lot of other breweries, although things are getting better here rapidly. Fortunately, Jester King is a brewery that we get limited offerings from and they are quickly becoming my second favorite brewery. We usually have La Petit Prince, Noble King and Commercial Suicide. A year ago we got Wunderkind and Uberkind for the first time and both were fantastic. In early December we got Wytchmaker (LOVE!), Boxer's Revenge (LOVE!), Black Metal (GREAT!), Mad Meg, and Ol Oi. THEN I got a text from a friend that our local Whole Foods had some Atrial Rubicite. Apparently there were only two cases sent to the state so they were out before I got there, but the friend that informed me was kind enough to trade an Eclipse for the Atrial Rubicite, which was freaking amazing! My wife has been wanting to take me on a road trip to Denver, but I'm thinking I would rather head to Austin to visit this amazing brewery.
I just picked up some bottles in Denver a couple of weeks ago. I like Wytchmaker a lot, but was not impressed with Mad Meg. Maybe it gets better with age, but I did not like the bottle that I had.
I'd had them at a couple of sour/funk fests (Boxer's Revenge and Black Metal), so I'm glad they'll be distributing in Denver now.
I'd had them at a couple of sour/funk fests (Boxer's Revenge and Black Metal), so I'm glad they'll be distributing in Denver now.
They're not distributing regularly outside of TX. It's an occasional thing.
http://jesterkingbrewery.com/faq/#faq_197
http://jesterkingbrewery.com/faq/#faq_197
Vellum
Well-Known Member
I live fifteen minutes from the brewery 
Maybe we should set up a trade in the trade forums. Send me a pm if interested and I'll see what I can do.
Maybe we should set up a trade in the trade forums. Send me a pm if interested and I'll see what I can do.
Beer_Eugenics
Well-Known Member
I like the fact that they come in brown champagne bottles. Great beer with a great bottle.
I live fifteen minutes from the brewery
Maybe we should set up a trade in the trade forums. Send me a pm if interested and I'll see what I can do.
I'm interested in the nebulous future. As of now, though, I'll be in Austin next weekend, so I may have time to swing by the brewery. Worst case, I'll hit Spec's.
Beer_Eugenics
Well-Known Member
Skitter, our Specs started carrying it about six months ago but H.E.B. does not carry it.
Which Specs? Scratch that, I see by one of your recent posts that you're around the Woodlands. According to the brewery website, some of the Spec's there carry their stuff as well as the HEB and Hubbell and Hudson. I know the Smith Street store downtown Houston has the biggest selection, though, since they're the distribution hub for the rest of the Houston area.
Umm Woodlands Pkwy and Kuykendahl, haven't't seen them, but I wasn't looking at bombers either, I'll have to change where I look
Didn't realize they were bombers only, I'll keep my eyes open, I always enjoy helping local breweries out at the expense of my liver!
I'll say this, I was surprised by the price of the 750 of Wytchmaker I bought. It was 'only' $10.99. Most of the 'artisinal' sort of stuff we get is crazy expensive. I was expecting it to be $20+ per bottle.
That's an unbelievable price. Especially given their intensive brewing processes that go above and beyond what a basic brew would entail.
That Spec's is supposed to stock at least some of them according to the finder, but I find that some of the smaller branches will be more limited. Never been to that one, so I can't say. Smith St. is always the most stocked. I would definitely recommend the HEB and Hubbell and Hudson in the Woodlands as places to also check, though. Buddy of mine from the Maiden fan club told me about them when we went see Maiden a couple years ago, and they both had really good selection.Umm Woodlands Pkwy and Kuykendahl, haven't't seen them, but I wasn't looking at bombers either, I'll have to change where I look
Yeah, they're 750mL almost exclusively. I am really hoping I get to make it to the brewery when I'm in Austin next weekend. Turns out I may be making a side trip to Deer Park a couple days before though for work, so I'm going to make a point of swinging by Smith St. on the way from there to Austin.
Ivypunx
Well-Known Member
I went to their brewery a couple years ago when it was in a small barn. Really cool place, cool brewers and good beer. Bit of a hipster magnet it looked like though. lol
I'm not sure if those bottles have dates but at least one of those has got to be pretty old. The second one from the left (that looks like Dave Mustaine from Megadeth) is Thrash Metal which they only made once over a year ago. I haven't seen it on shelves since 2012 despite living very close to them (even they haven't sold this one since then).
Within Austin you can find most of their (non-sour) beers at HEB or at Specs. It probably gets harder in other parts of Texas. But note that they seem to have stopped distributing most (all?) of their sour beers now that the laws have changed to allow them to sell bottles directly from their brewery. For example Boxer's Revenge was once sold in other stores, but now it is only sold at their brewery (and even there they are out right now). Atrial Rubicite was never released to stores at all according to people working on site there (not sure how it ended up in an out of state store).
So if you are looking for one of their sours your best bet is to buy it at their brewery when you go. They keep a list of what is available for sale on any given week:
http://jesterkingbrewery.com/tasting-room/
Some of the very recent sours (everything after Atrial Rubicite) don't seem to have been bottled at all, so you may have to settle for drinking those on site. Ambree is good (I had it there on cask on Saturday) but is currently in this "cannot purchase a bottle of it anywhere" situation.
I had the Wytchmaker tonight, and while I liked it, I didn't find it that awesome. It had a really great aroma, but was kind of weird to drink. I liked it less and less as I drank it. It was too bitter for me for a saison. Also, I find it bizarre that they say they included souring bacteria in it, but it's not sour at all, and is loaded with citrusy hops. Do you really want to age this beer out, and how long does it take to get sour? Since it's dry already, does it even get sour? I just thought it was a weird beer. It wouldn't stop me from trying their other beers, as long as the price isn't north of 20 bucks or so, but I don't feel the need to get this again. I'd probably have liked it a lot more if it had a lower hop profile and was a lot less bitter. I'd rather have Styrian Goldings, or something like than, than Citra and Simcoe and Columbus, or whatever the label said it had in it.
I didn't think Wytchmaker's label mentioned souring bacteria. I thought it was only brett, but I could be wrong. If you thought that was bitter, don't try Mad Meg. That was my problem with that one. That label definitely said they included souring bacteria, but the beer was very bitter and you could just barely get a taste of what a sour tastes like when its only been in the fermenter for a month or so (i.e. not sour at all, just with that early not-that-great beginning ramp-up to sour). I like Wytchmaker, but if I'm getting a brett IPA, I'll go for Anchorage Galaxy.
Yeah, I saw Mad Meg today, too (didn't get it), and both of them have souring bacteria listed on the ingredients. It just seems weird to put them in the beer if it's not going to be a sour, and I also thought that most of the bacteria were pretty inactive in high ibu beers.
I didn't think that Wytchmaker was grossly bitter, I just thought that the bitterness masked a lot of flavors I'd rather taste. We started getting Stillwater recently as well, and their Cellar Door is probably the best saison-brett style beer I've ever had. I guess I'd rather have the bitterness more at that level.
tgmartin000
Well-Known Member
I live in Denver, and just got my first bottle on xmas eve. Noble King. I went back the next day and bought the remaining 4 bottles. Amazing beer. I plan on harvesting the yeast for a saison this summer.
Had a Noble King a couple weeks ago. Quite good. Looking forward to see what I can find next week when I'm in TX. Going to be in the Houston area for work and then in Austin for my BJCP tasting exam.
Deer Park.
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Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using Home Brew mobile app
So, then yeah, I'm with Ted. Why put bacteria in there if the beer's not going to be sour? I was thoroughly annoyed with Mad Meg. Brought it to a New Year's Eve shindig wanting to share a sour that none of us had tried for the special occasion, and the general reaction was 'meh'.
I don't think that Wytchmaker or Mad Meg were ever made with souring bacteria or Brett. They may change this in the future (and confuse people in the process when their site only discusses the upcoming recipes as opposed to the recipe found in what is already on shelves).
Originally they used English ale yeast in almost all of their beers (Black Metal, Wytchmaker, Commercial Suicide). Then years ago they relabeled all of these beers with the word "farmhouse" at which point I think they switched them all to (cultured) Saison yeast; not wild yeast or bacteria. Around that time they also started making many sours (Boxer's Revenge, Das Wunderkind) that do and have always used souring bacteria. Their recent blog posts reveal that they intend to go farther, using their own wild yeast in all of their beer; not just the sour ones.
Note that most of their sour beers are only sold at their brewery now. The ones mentioned in this thread (Noble king, Mad Meg, Wytchmaker) are not their sours and don't (to my knowledge) have anything in them other than Saison yeast today.
I only have experience with wytchmaker and mad meg, but they aren't trying to be true sour beers. Both are fermented with a saison strain, a Wild yeast that jeff then cultured, and Brett. Just because something has brett, doesn't mean it's a sour.
And apparently, just because the label also says it has souring bacteria, it's not supposed to be sour either.
Yes, very familiar with brett and souring bacteria, and that brett doesn't make a beer sour. What we're referring to is the fact that the descriptions on the bottle (and the website) for Wytchmaker and for Mad Meg say that they "contain souring bacteria".
And that if you're someone who is familiar with the different influences of wild yeast and bacteria in the flavor profile of a beer, when you read "contains souring bacteria" on a label, you're likely going to expect at least some sour flavor components in said beer.
TANSTAAFB
Well-Known Member
I love Jester's beers. I moved from the Texas Hill Country to Southern Colorado a couple years ago and I bring back as much JK and Real Ale as I can whenever I go home. Just had El Cedro for the first time over the holidays and that is an incredible beer. Weasel Rodeo is one of my all time favorites.
I think they are moving to brewing everything with their "house" culture now, that's why new bottles and site say souring bacteria. But the levels are probably very low and souring effects will be time dependent.
I think they are moving to brewing everything with their "house" culture now, that's why new bottles and site say souring bacteria. But the levels are probably very low and souring effects will be time dependent.
I could buy that. Maybe they figure that there's a chance that souring bacteria will work its way into any of their beers, and they just want to put on the label that it's there, so if a soured bottle shows up here or there, it won't seem like they effed up. Lord knows there are plenty of brueries out there that sell $20-30 beers that are unintentionally soured, and if you work with brett and bacteria a lot, it's likely to be a constant problem.
