Jack's Abby (2024)

Nah like you I had no interest in this type of beer.

 

I tried a taster glass of it at the brewery out of curiosity... it tastes just as contradictory as you likely imagine it does. Interesting, but not what I want in a helles or a coffee beer. I'm surprised it saw distro and went beyond a little in-house experiment.

 

I assume this was a Wegmans collaboration of sorts – it uses their "Donut Shop Blend" coffee, which probably didn't do it any favors. I can usually be talked into trying lighter beers with coffee. Thought it was OK, but it had a little bit of synthetic after taste to it. With the right coffee I think it could have worked reasonably well, though it's hard to envision there being a ton of people out there who would enjoy a full 4-pack.

It did leave me craving a Lamplighter Cuppa – obviously a different style of base beer, but I think that one is really well done.

 

Saw a Trader Joe's exclusive beer of theirs this morning - might have to grab it for the weekend - Intrepid Traditions, a 5% German Pils.

 

Had one can so far. Wasn't the first beer of the night and wasn't really dissecting it. But it's quite drinkable, just what you would expect. A nice step up from a BMC beer (this isn't a knock at all, it's a pre-prohibition beer and uses corn).

I wish it was a lower ABV than 5.8%, but other than that, looking forward to the other three cans!

Edit: Huh, weird. Jack's Abby's site says this is 5%, it's 5.8 on the can.

 

FYI JA has limited edition Banner City cans to commemorate the title for preorder. Taproom only at 3 4-packs per person between now and 6/23. The cans look pretty sharp, and good on them for keeping it quiet until the game was over! It could have turned into the new "parade route" motivational speech by the other coach.

 

Will you be attending this event?

Cheers!

P.S. Spoiler Alert: I will be discussing a Jack's Abby Lager in the NBW thread (as a side-by-side tasting).

 

Those new beers look amazing really need to try and get chance to grab

 

Anybody go today or Friday? Did you have to put name on waitlist or whatever? Think I’m swinging by tomorrow around 2pm

 

Great to hear it is still tasting good. I can't say this exact beer will come back but there will certainly be more smoked beers on the pilot system. It is a hard style to justify on the full system but we love them and the pilot program has given us a lot more freedom.

 

When do we get the Schlenkerla collab we all deserve? I will continue to pitch the Imperial Rauchbier aged in Maple Bourbon barrels. Please. Thank You.

 

Picked up singles of "Extra Layer" their Winter Fest Lager and "Dark as Hell" their Schwarzbier.

These were 12 oz. singles at Wegmans but I didn't see them anywhere else in the store. Both had October canning dates too.

 

I've tried several Jack's Abby beers. Although my views aren't as well documented as yours, I found that the several Jack's Abby beers (most recently the Fest beer)that I tried do not have a "perceived fullness". Do any of them? It seems to be a waste of effort and resources to do decoction mashes and end up with a thin body. You, as a homebrewer, can choose to brew beers that are balanced or feature specific aspects (malt, hops). It seems to me that Jack's Abby, even with its big variety of labels, misses the mark on big bodied styles.

 

OK, there is a fair bit to ‘unpack’ here:

I have not had the recent Jack’s Abby Festbier so I have no personal tasting experience to relate on this brand. With that caveat out of the way I have had a number of other craft breweries’ Festbiers and some of them have had lighter/thinner body/mouthfeel which I believe is due to their goal of having increased drinkability for these sorts of beers (I prefer to categorize them as Pale Oktoberfest beers).

As regards Jack’s Abby brands in general I have found some of the brands to have lighter/thinner body/mouthfeel while other brands to have a more substantial (medium) body/mouthfeel. I suppose a situation of ‘hit or miss’ from your personal preference/viewpoint.

An example of a Jack’s Abby brand with a ligher/thinner mouthfeel is Bohemian Dusk which I discussed in a side-by-side tasing with my homebrewed Czech Dark Lager:

https://www.beeradvocate.com/community/threads/new-beer-weekend-176.675220/#post-7882394

You opined: “It seems to be a waste of effort and resources to do decoction mashes and end up with a thin body.”

It would seem that you have the impression that decoction mashing = fuller body? If so, this is a misnomer on your part. Decoction mashing is a version of the step mashing method where a portion of the mash is boiled and returned to the main mash to achieve increases of temperature as part of the overall step mashing regime. There are a number of brewing process decision steps here (e.g., number of decoctions/steps, specific temperature selections at each step, the duration/dwell at each step/boil, etc.) and what specific decisions are made will influence the qualities of the resulting beer. At Schönramer brewery in Southern Bavaria the head brewer, Eric Toft, uses decoction brewing to produce his flagship Helles beer and he makes decisions to create a Helles with increased drinkability:

“We prefer to do a decoction because we want the control over the conversion and the attenuation,” Toft says. “I try a couple of infusion beers every year, just so I can say that I did, keeping tabs on it.” But he never likes the results; they don’t attenuate enough for his taste.

“I like brewing beers crisp and dry,” he says. “

As you can discern above that Eric prefers to create a highly attenuated product for his Helles beer.

I get the general impression that Jack’s Abby beers are not for you. Luckily there are plenty of other breweries that produce quality lager beers. I would recommend Von Trapp to you.

Cheers!

@speakorspasm

 

I was stoked to get a 12pk of the Extra Layer; great campfire beer.

 

Both of these beers are in the Winter Fest variety pack.