Autumnal Dichotomous (2016)
Jester King Brewery

 

 

 

 

 

$ 13.86 (Including tax)/750 mL capped bottle ($ 0.546/oz) at Spec’s, Live Oak, TX.
Batch #3 01.24.2017. Stored in my garage at 40 degrees. Served at 42 degrees in a hand washed and dried Jester King snifter. Foams out upon opening.
Aroma – Initially, fresh and fruity. Rapidly degenerates to a faint wetness.
Head – Large (Maximum 4.8 cm, careful pour), off white, low density, good retention time, diminishing to a two to three mm ring fed by effervescence, and a thin layer with rocks.
Lacing – Fair. Thick partial rings of virtually microscopic bubbles.
Body – First pour clear, second pour cloudy (Bottle conditioned). Medium orange. Effervescent.
Flavor – Can’t taste any pumpkin and I’ve never tasted wood sorrel or fig leaves so I don’t know what they taste like. Horehound, on the other hand, I remember from the god-awful candy my grandmother used to eat. Here I can taste it but in a much restrained form so it’s not detrimental to the flavor. A little bitterness comes through, but that could be the hops or the sorrel. No malt, no alcohol, no diacetyl.
Palate – Light, watery, sometimes fizzy carbonation.
Impression: An interesting brew. The horehound is noticeable and adds an unusual bit of spice to the flavor. Next trip to TX, I’ll try to find another bottle or two of this and also look for some wood sorrel.
Appearance 4, Aroma 4, Flavor 4, Palate 4, Overall 4.

 

 

really earthy wild ale, awesome fall offering, gosh golly me i just love jester king and their weird beers like this! i have to say, i dont get a whole lot of pumpkin here, certainly none of the often accompanying spices or sugars, and it doesnt tasted toasted, roasted, or cooked to me in any way. if its here at all, its a sort of bland, hard, squashy thing, i pick it up a bit with the richer malt base if i force it, but its not real prevalent here at all. i definitely get the fig leaf, sort of astringent, grapey, preserving, tannic, bitter, herbaceous and even medicinal in here. its a neat fresh tasting element in an otherwise really mature beer. the yeast is classic jester king, more funk than sour but both are there, and the added herbs and whatnot give it a nice earthy bitter finish that counterbalances the bigger malt base. its not sweet but its not real dry either, i get the bready and hearty malt elements all the way, which adds to the fall vibe, fallen leaves and wood elements too, at least in my head palate. while i dont get a ton of pumpkin, i also dont really miss it, the added herbal ingredients and wild yeasts make it plenty complex, and it seems plenty autumnal as well. i thought this was awesome, something distinct and different in a way that isnt too weird to want to drink several glasses of it. yummy!

 

 

Autumnal Dichotomus 2016 from Jester King, Texas, ABV 5.30%. It is brewed with Pumpkin, Wood Sorrel, Horehound, Fig Leaves, as well as hops, barley malt, etc. Every year the Autumnal Dichotomus is different, and this one is different from 2015, I haven't the 2017 yet. This is a very nice autumn saison.

Look: It has a cloudy dark amber almost pumpkin hue with a several inch fluffy white head leaving nice lacing behind.

Aroma: smokey pumpkin, orange, bread

Taste: It is pumpkin but not too much, it's tart orange and grapefruit, a bit smokey, and autumnal spices, maybe some of the stuff I mentioned above that I don't really know how it taste like, but it comes out pretty good.

Feel: light to medium