Bière De Merlot | Jester King Brewery
Brewed by:
Jester King Brewery
Texas, United States
jesterkingbrewery.com
Style: American Wild Ale
Alcohol by volume (ABV): 8.50%
Availability: Limited (brewed once)
Notes / Commercial Description:
No notes at this time.
Added by Uanof on 02-27-2014
This beer is retired; no longer brewed.
View: Beers | Place Reviews | Events
Ratings: 59 | Reviews: 3
Reviews by WTKeene:
More User Reviews:
3.54/5 rDev -19.4%
look: 3.25 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.25 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 3.75
Reviewed from notes.
8.50%. Served on-draught into 8oz stemware at Jester King. Expectations were high. Cost was $8.00 USD.
No bubble show forms as it's poured.
HEAD: One finger wide head of white colour. Decent thickness and cream. Bad retention (<1 minute). No lacing clings to the sides of the glass as the head recedes. Weak consistency. Okay complexion.
BODY: Translucent nontransparent dark red with purple hues. No yeast particulate or hop sediment is visible.
Appealing for a sour in a general sense.
AROMA: Grape must, tart indistinct berries, and genuine bacteria-induced sourness, including plenty of lactobacillus. Seems alive. The grape isn't real strong. Doesn't seem all that sour, but it's wildly fermented, sure.
No hop notes, alcohol, off-notes, or malt notes are detectable. The malts disappear beneath the dominant fruity notes.
It's a pleasant aroma of average strength.
TASTE: Bacterial sourness is the first thing I notice - mostly lactobacillus. It's clinical, and doesn't evoke true spontaneous/wild fermentation. I don't pick up on lambicus yeast or anything. It's not too grapey, which is a good thing. But it doesn't evoke red wine either. I just get tart berry sourness, a clean barley/neutral Belgian malt base, and some mild (but not puckering) sourness. Kisses of muted oak are present throughout. It's well balanced and very cohesively constructed, but this isn't a gestalt flavour profile.
No hop character, overt alcohol, or off-notes come through.
It's got nice subtlety and decent nuance, but it's far from a complex or intricate sour. As it warms, I do pick up on some grape must in the third act.
TEXTURE: Almost powdery. It's got a nice blanket of fine must which is remarkable, and really works to complement the taste. Smooth and wet, with a comforting refreshing presence on the palate. Perfect carbonation. Delightfully soft.
This is a damn fine texture for a sour, and absolutely feels elevates the beer. Feels custom-tailored specifically to this flavour profile. Wow. It's aptly thick, and medium-bodied.
Not oily, gushed, hot, boozy, harsh, or astringent.
OVERALL: Very drinkable for the 8.50% ABV. I'll easily kill this glass. They executed the premise of the beer very well, but I do wonder where the wine notes are. I'd definitely get this beer again, but I crave more sourness and tartness.
Low B
2,365 characters
look: 3.25 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.25 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 3.75
Reviewed from notes.
8.50%. Served on-draught into 8oz stemware at Jester King. Expectations were high. Cost was $8.00 USD.
No bubble show forms as it's poured.
HEAD: One finger wide head of white colour. Decent thickness and cream. Bad retention (<1 minute). No lacing clings to the sides of the glass as the head recedes. Weak consistency. Okay complexion.
BODY: Translucent nontransparent dark red with purple hues. No yeast particulate or hop sediment is visible.
Appealing for a sour in a general sense.
AROMA: Grape must, tart indistinct berries, and genuine bacteria-induced sourness, including plenty of lactobacillus. Seems alive. The grape isn't real strong. Doesn't seem all that sour, but it's wildly fermented, sure.
No hop notes, alcohol, off-notes, or malt notes are detectable. The malts disappear beneath the dominant fruity notes.
It's a pleasant aroma of average strength.
TASTE: Bacterial sourness is the first thing I notice - mostly lactobacillus. It's clinical, and doesn't evoke true spontaneous/wild fermentation. I don't pick up on lambicus yeast or anything. It's not too grapey, which is a good thing. But it doesn't evoke red wine either. I just get tart berry sourness, a clean barley/neutral Belgian malt base, and some mild (but not puckering) sourness. Kisses of muted oak are present throughout. It's well balanced and very cohesively constructed, but this isn't a gestalt flavour profile.
No hop character, overt alcohol, or off-notes come through.
It's got nice subtlety and decent nuance, but it's far from a complex or intricate sour. As it warms, I do pick up on some grape must in the third act.
TEXTURE: Almost powdery. It's got a nice blanket of fine must which is remarkable, and really works to complement the taste. Smooth and wet, with a comforting refreshing presence on the palate. Perfect carbonation. Delightfully soft.
This is a damn fine texture for a sour, and absolutely feels elevates the beer. Feels custom-tailored specifically to this flavour profile. Wow. It's aptly thick, and medium-bodied.
Not oily, gushed, hot, boozy, harsh, or astringent.
OVERALL: Very drinkable for the 8.50% ABV. I'll easily kill this glass. They executed the premise of the beer very well, but I do wonder where the wine notes are. I'd definitely get this beer again, but I crave more sourness and tartness.
Low B
2,365 characters
Bière De Merlot from Jester King Brewery
Beer rating:
94.9% out of
100 with
59 ratings
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.75 | feel: 4.75 | overall: 4.5
8oz served on draught in a Jester King wine glass on 3/14/2014.
Appearance: A pale white/pink creamy, thick crown sits around the edge of the glass, atop a beautiful, hazy purple and deep crimson body.
Smell: The merlot grapes are strong here, lending floral vineous blackberry and grape notes to the sour, funky base. Very similar to a good red wine, obviously, aside from the tart funkiness.
Taste: Tart but not mouth puckering, with lots of Merlot grapes. Dark fruity blackberry and raspberry, it is very much like drinking Merlot itself. Somewhat prominent alcohol, with a grainy malt flavor on the finish.
Mouthfeel: Prickly like champagne, impossibly dry. Full bodied, without a particularly long linger.
Overall: I do wish that a bottle of this was within my reach, but I suppose it will be bottled again eventually. Really good stuff. Probably a great way to introduce wine lovers to lambics and other wild ales too. Can't wait to try the Tempranillo!
965 characters