Jester King Figlet — Collaboration With Franklin Barbecue

Discussion in 'Southwest' started by tx_beer_man, Nov 18, 2014.

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  1. tx_beer_man

    tx_beer_man Pundit (902) Jan 22, 2013 Texas
    Trader

    Introducing Jester King Figlet — Our Collaboration With Franklin Barbecue

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    We’re very excited to introduce Jester King Figlet, brewed in collaboration with the world famousFranklin Barbecue in Austin, Texas! We love working with local artisans doing exceptional and creative things in the food and beverage world, and Franklin Barbecue is of course no exception.

    The original impetus for this collaboration came from the filming of an upcoming episode of BBQ With Franklin, which will air on KLRU-TV, Austin PBS. Aaron Franklin set out to explore the use of smoke in beer making for the episode. We wanted to branch out beyond the traditional use of smoked malt and opted to take a local ingredient that was in season — Texas figs — and use it as a medium to impart characteristics from Franklin’s barbecue pits into the beer. Local figs were caramelized with heat and cold smoked at Franklin Barbecue. Aaron charred a portion of the figs, which imparted a subtle burnt, almost leathery, character to the beer. The base beer was designed to integrate the flavors and aromas of the smoked figs with our house fermentation characteristics, which stem from mixed culture fermentation with a blend of brewer’s yeast, wild yeast from the Texas Hill Country, and native souring bacteria. While we typically brew beer with a sizable majority of pilsner malt in the grist, in this case our Head Brewer Garrett Crowell opted for a base of Dark Munich malt, which he felt complemented the smoky and lightly caramelized character of the figs.

    Figlet was brewed in early July of 2014 with Hill Country well water, barley, oats, and hops. It then underwent a long-term fermentation over the course of four months, first in stainless steel and then in bottles, kegs, and casks. As is the case with all our beer, the aromas and flavors are largely created by giving a diverse array of microorganisms, many of which are native to our land in the Texas Hill Country, the ample time they need to work with each other (or against each other!) to create unique characteristics inexorably tied to our land. During the last few weeks of the stainless steel portion of the fermentation, the smoked figs were added to the beer and allowed to referment. During this process, the sugars in the figs were broken down by yeast and bacteria. Through refermentation, the aromas and flavors of the smoked figs were transformed, integrated, and elevated in a way that we believe is greater than the sum of their parts. Figlet is 6.2% alcohol by volume, 1.006 specific gravity, and had a pH of 3.7 at the time of bottling in early September.

    Figlet will be released at Jester King Brewery when our tasting room opens at 4pm on Friday, November 21st. It will be available by the glass, as well as to go in 750ml bottles ($12, limit 2 per customer per day). Approximately 3,500 bottles are available, and at this point, we do not anticipate Figlet being available outside of Jester King, apart from a few special events. The label art for Figlet was done in house by our own Josh Cockrell.

    We’d like to offer a very special thank you to Aaron Franklin for working with us to create our collaboration beer, as well to KLRU-TV, Austin PBS for documenting the process!

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    Jester King Figlet

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    (left to right) Banjo, Garrett Crowell, Jeffrey Stuffings, Aaron Franklin, Ron Extract, Adrienne Ballou

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    Jester King Head Brewer Garrett Crowell with Aaron Franklin during filming for KLRU-TV BBQ With Franklin
     
    #1 tx_beer_man, Nov 18, 2014
    mgr78704, ATA1K, zonker17 and 1 other person like this.
  2. boogercrack

    boogercrack Initiate (0) May 24, 2012 Texas

    man. the label looks like aaron franklin is drinking some of his own figlets.
     
    #2 boogercrack, Nov 18, 2014
    RustyP, Nablock, kmello69 and 6 others like this.
  3. mph005

    mph005 Initiate (0) Nov 25, 2013 Texas
    Trader

    i'm not comfortable with that label, es creepy
     
    #3 mph005, Nov 18, 2014
    atxdelivery, kmello69, MLDucky and 2 others like this.
  4. Dicers

    Dicers Grand Pooh-Bah (3,436) Sep 2, 2012 California
    Society Pooh-Bah Trader

    Don't like the label, beer sounds interesting
     
    #4 Dicers, Nov 18, 2014
  5. jesterkingbeer

    jesterkingbeer Pundit (865) Jun 28, 2010 Texas

    A few of you might be wondering about bottles of Figlet already showing up on the west coast. In fact, we've already received one inquiry asking why the beer was "released in California". We recently sent beer to California for Shelton Bros. The Festival. On the shipment were just three cases of Figlet, which were earmarked for some special events at west coast accounts we're friends with (e.g. The Hop Grenade). Some photos of Figlet (inevitably in hindsight) ended up on the web. Thank you to the Southwest Forum for not re-posting on Beer Advocate. In no way was Figlet released in California. This is a Texas collaboration after all! - Jeff
     
    #5 jesterkingbeer, Nov 18, 2014
    Texasfan549, nsheehan, kmello69 and 6 others like this.
  6. jesterkingbeer

    jesterkingbeer Pundit (865) Jun 28, 2010 Texas

    When I first saw it, this quote from The Big Lebowski came to mind:

    Maude Lebowski: In a sense, yes. My art has been commended as being strongly vaginal which bothers some men. The word itself makes some men uncomfortable. Vagina.
     
    #6 jesterkingbeer, Nov 18, 2014
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  7. Dicers

    Dicers Grand Pooh-Bah (3,436) Sep 2, 2012 California
    Society Pooh-Bah Trader

    Yeah saw a few pictures of it was curious but assumed it was for The Festival
     
    #7 Dicers, Nov 18, 2014
    UtisTheLaw likes this.
  8. cfrobrew

    cfrobrew Initiate (0) Oct 9, 2012 Texas

    How can we get our figlets in a bunch when you guys are quoting The Big Lebowski? haha
     
    #8 cfrobrew, Nov 18, 2014
    tx_beer_man and rainerschuhsler like this.
  9. Phil_S

    Phil_S Initiate (0) Feb 14, 2013 Texas

    @jesterkingbeer, Since Live Oak was on-site pouring Live Oak beer when their kollaboration was released, I feel it's only fair that Franklin is on-site as well, their serving his BBQ when his beer is released.

    Further, I feel that absolutely no publicity of this information is paramount.
     
    #9 Phil_S, Nov 18, 2014
    JJFoodie, mindswoop, rainerschuhsler and 14 others like this.
  10. jesterkingbeer

    jesterkingbeer Pundit (865) Jun 28, 2010 Texas

    Personal insults aside, three cases of Figlet were sent to the west coast via our California distributor. Our distributor is our business partner, an extension of our brewery, and we rely upon it to protect our interests. We asked our distributor to ensure that information about the beer was not released until we had the opportunity to release it ourselves. That failed, and we take partial responsibility for it. With that said, thank you once again to the Southwest Forum for not re-posting on Beer Advocate. We are appreciative you gave us the opportunity to release information about the beer, as well as the label art, before forum discussion ensued. - Jeff
     
    #10 jesterkingbeer, Nov 18, 2014
    CraftBeerFTW, krmkrm, mdeluna and 12 others like this.
  11. WTKeene

    WTKeene Initiate (0) Jul 13, 2013 New Mexico

    Curious @jesterkingbeer, what variety of figs were used in the production of this beer? I love all figs but different varieties can taste wildly different.
     
    #11 WTKeene, Nov 18, 2014
  12. Indytruks138

    Indytruks138 Initiate (0) Jun 28, 2013 Texas

    Brewery thanks BA for not releasing info they didn't want released.
    Troll trolls.
    Brewery thanks BA again.
    Troll goes back to his cave....hopefully.
     
    #12 Indytruks138, Nov 18, 2014
    Techichi, mwbbq, kmello69 and 3 others like this.
  13. joeyfeets

    joeyfeets Initiate (0) Aug 14, 2014 New York

    Estival + Figlet kinda weekend it seems. At least the weather is warming back up a bit.
     
    #13 joeyfeets, Nov 18, 2014
  14. jesterkingbeer

    jesterkingbeer Pundit (865) Jun 28, 2010 Texas

    About 75% of the figs were Celeste. Adrienne Ballou, who heads our barrel program, has inquired with the grower as far as the varietal of the other 25%.
     
    #14 jesterkingbeer, Nov 18, 2014
    TxUltraRunner, mwbbq, kmello69 and 3 others like this.
  15. Abbbp

    Abbbp Pooh-Bah (1,762) Mar 9, 2013 Texas
    Pooh-Bah Trader

    In that same spirit...

    Lebowski: <peaks eyes over his shades, walking away from Bunny> I'm just gonna go to a cash machine.
     
    #15 Abbbp, Nov 19, 2014
    CraftBeerFTW, MattSweatshirt and PatrickInAustinTx like this.
  16. H0rnedFr0gs

    H0rnedFr0gs Initiate (0) Mar 12, 2012 Texas

    I love the collab labels that put the other artist in the label (Rodeo series and Prairie's Bible Belt stand out in my mind). Pieous Pizza Beer!
     
    #16 H0rnedFr0gs, Nov 21, 2014
  17. aschwab

    aschwab Initiate (0) Mar 3, 2009 Texas

    Pastrami sour?

    I would give it a try.
     
    #17 aschwab, Nov 21, 2014
    nathanmiller likes this.
  18. turfy

    turfy Pooh-Bah (1,872) Mar 17, 2010 Texas
    Society Pooh-Bah Trader

    So what's the verdict on this one??
     
    #18 turfy, Nov 23, 2014
  19. PatrickInAustinTx

    PatrickInAustinTx Savant (1,088) Nov 16, 2013 Texas
    Trader

    I really enjoyed it. It had some light smokey characteristics that I really liked. Nice smokey farmhouse nose. Don't think smokey like the salt lick collab its nothing like that. Couldn't pull the figs out of it though but I can't say that I've had enough figs in my life to really know the flavor.
     
    #19 PatrickInAustinTx, Nov 23, 2014
  20. HawksBeerFan

    HawksBeerFan Maven (1,378) Dec 24, 2011 Illinois
    Trader

    Interesting to see JK do a beer with such a strong smoke flavor to it. IT was tasty, smokiness wasn't overwhelming, had a nice sort of fruity base. Tasty!

    The shirts are really cool too except the figlet logo at the belly, the chest design is awesome.
     
    #20 HawksBeerFan, Nov 23, 2014
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