Jester King to release Atrial Rubicite

Don't be mad a Chinese kid muled better than you

 

I had a great time out there tonight and it was awesome to see so many of my friends too. I agree that this batch of Atrial is amongst the best. The mouthfeel and jammyness of this batch really sets it apart from other raspberry AWA's of the same caliber. Well done! I'll see ya'll again tomorrow!

 

Please report if grandma comes out for Day 2. Classic mule choice. Awesome pic

 

A higher bottle count would alleviate all of this madness and make more money.

But that's just my opinion.

 

Doubtful. We'd just find something else to moan about. Anyone in line already?

 

Got to JK at 830. Left Dallas at 5 am.

Just me and one other dude sitting in the shade in our cars.

 

I drove up there with a friend (not a mule) and we got there about half an hour before they opened. We saw the line and said screw that we'll just drink a bottles worth then go get pastrami whales. We both turned down muling for someone while we were there because we were not buying bottles and realized this is why we hate beer now. But I can't really complain that much because I drank some AR and didn't have to stand in line.

 

I still like Thursday announcements so the Houston/DFW crews don't have time to assemble their busloads of mules and drive down.

It seems that every Thursday announcement has less crowds, while any earlier, there are long lines.

 

I didn't bother this time around. I really wanted a bottle or two, but just don't care to deal with the lines and chaos. I will probably go out on Sunday and hope it is on tap instead.

 

Desperation makes for the stinkiest cologne

 

Atrial Rubicite draft is already pretty low after yesterday. We don't expect it to last very long today.

 

If I can chime in (feel free to tell me to shut the fuck up and go back to where I belong...) as someone who has hosted some bustling bottle releases (though not to the level of Jester King's) and done a silent release of a sought after beer (again, not to JK's level, but sought after in FT terms)...

I'm not sure that the silent release really solves anything. In our case, it just meant that the local people who cared ended up with all of the bottles to distribute out among the people they know in trades/hook-ups/or pick-me-ups. While my hope was to end up with more of the beer in the hands of more people, in the end I think it all ended up with the same people who really wanted it. (Note, this isn't a gripe or a complaint, just an observation)

So with that said, my personal thinking is to go back to the single-day bottle release that has an appeal of its own no matter how many bottles you end up with. In the past for us, it was the bottle share and (I hope) the tap list. In the case of Jester King... even if you end up with one bottle or no bottles... guess what, you're still at Jester King, one of the best brewery experiences (both the beer and the experience of visiting) in the world!

I think instead of viewing a trip to Jester King as "I paid $X for gas, $Y for hotel, $Z for beer... so this was an $X+Y+Z beer!" I think the right way to look at it is "hey... we took a vacation to central Texas and visited a world class brewery."

So with all of that said... with our barrel aged/special release beers we are going to go back to the bottle-share/bottle-release model. Some beers will make it to distribution, some beers will be exclusive to the bottle release. We'll probably do a little of each at each release (and we'll be announcing SMABRD'15 details soon in addition to Dia de La Muerta
15 details soon) and encourage the bottle share. As an extremely shameless plug, I hope you'll join us.

But at the end of the day, you'd be crazy to question Jester King's motives as they are pretty transparent about them. They try their damn hardest to create a system that works well (and keep in mind how many different systems they've tried! You can't say they aren't putting effort into making things as smooth as possible), make tasty beer, and deliver a world class experience.

Scott

PS.... ISO: Atrial Rubicite

 

Yup. Scott.

 

Oh wow.... Finally checked in on bs tho see the climate at jk. Really looking forward to getting a pour of this at the very least but it looks like even that will be impossible haha. Haven't made it out there since the C5 release when I started realizing that things were getting more chaotic as far as releases were concerned. I am happy at the success that you guys are experiencing over there Jeff, it must be such a wild ride knowing the huge demand. I still need to come up again and say hi to Margarita and talk Notre Dame football with you again.

Also, I know you were pretty open at sharing home brew recipes in the past for us aspiring Brewers. I would love to see if you guys could share the base das recipe so that I can try my attempt at a clone. Thanks and all the best!

Stay hydrated out there everyone!

 

Some of my favorite beer memories were during the SMABRD release, I thank you for this Scott. Some of those bottle shares got wild but it was always such a great setting to catch up with the entire Texas community at the time and just have a great time. I thank you for this and look forward to the next one.

 

Ditto. Freetail bottle releases are the best time.

 

No I won't tell you to fuck off! I value your opinion very much and am glad to hear it from someone who actually has the experience as a business and brewery owner. As I said, I have no experience owning a business so my thoughts may be right, wrong, neither or both. Interesting to hear your perspective on silent releases with regard to beers and locals, it's something I've never thought of.

With regards to questioning JK's motives...if it came across that way I sincerely apologize, that wasn't my intention and I honestly don't what your referring to in that regard. If it was long lines and more cash flow equals more money I'm not saying that's their motive (nor would I blame them if it was) I think that's a fact. More people spending more time at the brewery means more people buying beers to quench their thirst, I know I would.

Perhaps I should have clarified my other sarcastic remark of "now I know why JK brewed less Atrial and I don't blame them". I was referring to everytime they brew atrial there is I shit show in the forums and of people bitching about the way it was released.

I realize there is no perfect way to release such a popular beer. In the past Jeff has even asked us our opinions and ideas (which I think is great) of how they should release "special beers". I suggested a silent release with that in mind. I know and appreciate the fact that they have tried several different ways to release their beers but the "silent release" is the only way (I believe) they haven't tried. For all I know they are extremely satisfied with the way things are going now and kudos to them. It was just a suggestion that may or may not help cut down on some of the more common complaints. Based on your response perhaps it's not such a good idea after all.

As I mentioned in another post, I think going to JK is always a great time. I would just prefer to skip their "special" releases in order to avoid the crowds and go when I can kick back and enjoy all their other great beers minus the longer lines, people asking me to mule for them, etc.

On a separate note, the return of bottle shares and SMABRD is the best news Ive heard in a long time. A lot of us got to know each other while at FT enjoying and sharing beers. If possible, this is one event I will take off if work to drive my grumpy ass down there to participate. Now if you can get on those dates...

 

My apologies... none of the stuff I wrote after silent releases had anything to do with anything you said... that was just where my flow of thought went after I chimed in about silent releases. Didn't mean to suggest any of the rest was about you or anything you said.

 

Thanks but no need to apologize. I'm not good at Internet sarcasm so it's probably best I clarified some of my remarks regardless. There's so much I enjoy about JK (beers, setting, Jeff's participation, etc) that perhaps some of my comments don't reflect that all of the time. Thanks again and cheers!

 

Line is insane already. Longest I've seen.