JK Provenance beers

There were two more JK beer I have had recently that I didn't think lived up to their previous versions, Ambree and Wytchmaker. I loved Wytchmaker before and the one I just open on Saturday (bottled 6.30.15 I think) was a Belgian bomb, nothing funky or interesting about it.

Anyone else think some of the more recent batches are disappointing or is it me?

 

I actually had one last night, unintentionally because I felt like drinking one, not to search for any flaws in it. The only flaw that I found was that it kind of just tasted like a saison, nothing spectacular, no orange or grapefruit. That was a bit disappointing, but I wouldn't say undrinkable. The problem with saying they shouldn't be passing it off as something it isn't is that beer can change over time from when it was sold to when it's consumed. This is especially prevalent when using bacteria and wild yeast.

 

I bought one of each (L&L, O&G) when they first arrived this year in the DFW area (early July I believe). I didn't check the batch #'s though. I only drank the L&L at that time and it was very good. I then purchased another bottle of each when it showed back up again in DFW in early/mid August. I drank the first bottle of O&G at that time and that's the one I thought was disgusting. I'm guessing it was Batch #1 but I'm not sure. I just checked the second bottle I purchased in August and it's Batch #2 so I'm hoping it's different like others have mentioned.

 

If you check untappd for the O&G batch 2, I just really can't agree that there are "way too many reports of this beer being bad". I had the beer myself (on tap and 6 months ago or whatever) and it was pretty decent. I know it's money and all being wasted if you're dumping a beer, but I've dumped a lot of beer over time and I just can't get too mad about it. I just factor it into my future decisions like I'm sure everybody else does. I think most people on here would tell you to contact the brewer personally if you have a real problem with their product.

I recently bought a 6 pack of a Dallas area one-off IPA (part of a series) and it was basically canned butter. I tried two cans and threw the other 4 in the trash. It sucks, but I can't be bothered enough to get too mad about it. That's just me.

 

Can somebody clarify one thing for me? Were there 2 batches this year or does Batch #1 refer to last year's beer?

 

The 2014 Provenances were: Batch 1 O&G, Batch 2 LL, Batch 3 T&C. The 2015 Provenances are: Batch 2 O&G and Batch 2 LL (bottled 2015 instead of 2014). I don't think there were multiple bottlings after the initial one this year.

And while I much prefer LL, none of the O&G I had this year was bad.

 

There should be a class action lawsuit against Jester King for releasing this sorry excuse of a beer.

This a clear violation of your rights as a consumer. It’s an infringement on your constitutional rights. It’s outrageous, egregious, preposterous.

 

How is the tangerine and clementine version holding up? Plan on opening mine in 2 weeks

 

I was more fond of the LL this year as well, but I didn't find the OG bad.

 

Had one a couple months ago that was still good. Definitely my favorite of the series.

 

I had both the T&C and the O&G (blend one) a few months ago and they tasted great. I preferred the T&C over the O&G blend one, but not by much. However, I did not have either when they were first released. My fairly recent tasting of the O&G blend one was what made the taste of O&G blend two so dramatic for me. If it had been a blind taste test, I would've never thought they were same beer. I'm not even sure I would've thought O&G blend two was from Jester King.

I'm glad to hear not everyone had the same experience I did with O&G blend two.

 

I had the new recipe Ambree side by side with the previous batch and it was awful. It sucks, since Ambree was one of my favorites of the 750s. The new recipe was just watery bland generic saison taste.

 

To me, they tasted about the same (fresh B1 to fresh B2). Perhaps B1 had a bit more bright citrus to it, but the grapefruit bitterness (at least, I assume that's where it was coming from) always made me go for LL instead.

What O&G I had didn't last long, so I wasn't able to see how it aged.

Didn't get watery out of the new Ambree at all, though it's been a while since I've had it. It was like an easy drinking citrus-forward saison. I do miss the old recipe though.

 

@ElkSherpa you obviously understand the nuance of proper storing of bottles and its affect on taste better than most. I'm not going to name retailers but obviously the conditions both before purchase (on a shelf perhaps, direct sunlight perhaps) and the conditions between then and the time it has been opened (in your front seat on the way home from Jester King, etc.) can change things like hops quickly. Do adjuncts, like citrus, have similar traits?

I'm not trying to suggest that anyone who had a negative experience with this or any beer "did it wrong", rather just curious how quickly things like temperature and sunlight can impact flavor, especially for low ABV adjunct saisons (pretty sure Fantome comes to everyone's mind as well)

 

Based off of the flavors people are describing I think improper storage could have sped up the production of these off flavors, but they seem to be more yeast derived instead of external factors.

 

I feel better its not just me, but I am hoping the trend will reverse.

As @ElkSherpa said " Mixed culture fermentation tends to zig zag in and out of different microbial dominance.", it seems Belgian yeast is dominating.

 

I'd second that.

I drank my Orange & Grapefruit about a month ago, and it was pretty disappointing. Mostly just bitter dirt flavor. If I had another bottle, I'd hide in the back of the fridge and leave it there for a year.

Lemon & Lime was awesome, btw.

 

Out of curiosity I had O&G B2 last night. Very bitter grapefruit pith taste, but I made my way through the bottle. It got better as it warmed up a bit.

 

I nominate Jackie Chiles to take the case!