I Will Get Slammed For This, BUT....

Well technically they are not even two years old. Sours take time, Cantilion will age them in a barrel for 1-3 years and then bottle condition for another year. Funk Metal is a solid sour that they have produced as well as RU-55, Ol' Oi! and Das Uberkind. Since they bottle condition all of their bottles there is a reason for bottle variance. Most breweries force carbonate their beers. There is an art form to bottle conditioning. The Belgians do it best but they have been doing it for 100s of years. JK is never going to be a large brewery producing 1000s of barrels a year, it's not what they want to do. It takes time to build up a stock and it can't be done over night. It's difficult for any sour brewery to produce their product in a large scale. The biggest thing to keep in mind is that Sours are more of an art form then most beers. You can not put a time table on them, they will tell you when they are ready. This is the biggest reason JKs beers vary so much from batch to batch. No one faults Fantome for that.

 

I think that is their plan. I think they want to have beers like Boxers and Funk Metal as year around beers. But you have to have other thing out right now so that you can have some sort of income. Starting a wild ale brewery is not a good economic choice. Tilquin is a good example of this. They could not sell beers for at least a year. Its hard to stay in business when you can't sell products because they are not ready yet.

 

I think they're doing what makes them happy and I don't think they're going broke. Gotta respect that.

 

They are a young Brewery. They produce great beers. I don't like all of their beers, but I do like that they experiment.

 

Whoever doesn't want their Buddha's Brew send it my way. I love lamp.

 

I like about half of what JK puts out. I like that they are doing what they love and the labels are second to none. However, a lot of there beers taste the same to me. Noble King, Trash Metal, Mad Meg and La Petite Prince all taste very similar. I really enjoy the sours and specail offerings but they are such a commodity I tend to hoard the few i get and bust them out on special occasions. I look forward to being able to pick them these special offerings up on a more regular basis.

 

The only way to produce better and better beers is to experiment and see what happens. Some, maybe even many, will not be great, but they'll learn from it. And in between, they make some amazing stuff. They are young, smart, and talented. This brewery will continue to become more relevant as long as they continue to do exactly what they're doing. In the mean time, enjoy the amazing stuff.

 

We recorded a long and pretty in-depth interview with Jeff and Ron of Jester King on my craft beer podcast where they talk at length about their philosophy, process, and approach (we also taste Le Petit Prince, Commercial Suicide, Buddha's Brew, Das Wunderkind!, Das Uberkind!, and Funk Metal with them on mic). I think a lot of your questions will be cleared up once you listen to it.

It'll be available for download early Friday morning, December 7th (and it's free).

Check my profile for a link.

 

Jolly Pumpkin style and caliber beers in my backyard? I'll buy that all day long.

 

& I'll trade for that all day long with JP brews in my backyard

 

Most is not Jolly Pumpkin quality thought. Just my opinion of coarse. I agree with the OP. The first three beers they released, Witchmaker IPA, Commercial Suicide, and Black Metal were great. Going farmhouse with all those ruined the beers for me. I will enjoy Prince and Mad Meg on occasion, but have been disappointed with most the rest I have had from them recently.

 

I would disagree. I still have several different batch 1s from JP and the first few of La Roja and Luciernaga weren't the same beers that they are now. The first Luciernaga GR was the first taste of what that beer has become.

As was stated earlier, a barrel program takes a long time to get working as designed, and even still requires constant deviation from your plan. JK has started out with a robust portfolio (bigger than I would've gone for myself, with them being so new) which has generally been well received. But, different strokes indeed. I've been selling their stuff since the beginning and I have heard that feedback from our guests too. So you certainly aren't alone, but it just isn't your cup of tea currently. I think a lot of people don't get "it", but you do...just isn't your thing.

 

I was pumped to try Jolly Pumpkin at GABF and while the Roja and Luciernaga were good, I was underwhelmed. It's understandable if there are better beers they produce, but don't bring to GABF, but that's what I've had. That said, I much prefer the sours from JK and Freetail. Das Uberkind, Boxer's, Buddha's, and Funk Metal are all very good. Bonnie, Das Wunderkin, and Meg were okay, but I wouldn't buy them again. I like La Petite for what it is, but I'm not buying it for the price. Black Metal was much better pre-farmhouse. As far as Freetail, Fortuna Roja and El Porto Galitto are very good as well and the Ananke beers are can hang with the upper tier of wild ales.

I don't love everything JK does, but love their desire to introduce less commercialized styles. Even more so, I love how patient they with criticism. I was talking to one of their guys (I don't know them by name) waiting for our bags at ABIA after GABF about how I wish they would have brought Funk Metal or Whiskey Rodeo to showcase. He was understanding but also didn't back down from the validity of their lineup. To me (someone who knows none of them personally, but has had some interactions), they come across as confident in their vision and graceful when people don't get it. For a place that isn't even 2 years old, they put out the arguably the most ambitious lineup in the state and are committed to a clear artisan vision. That's pretty damn solid for such a young brewery. I will always support places like that.

BTW, Hops and Grain is doing some crazy interesting stuff with their Greenhouse series.

 

Guys are complaining, but I guarantee every time you post FT: JK ISO: whatever you get bites at $4$ all day long. There is a reason for that, every brewery has beers I don't like, doesn't mean they aren't a good brewery.

 

Also means, I would buy the beers I don't like and use them for trade fodder.

 

This is what beeradvocate has come to , valuing beers quality on their trade value. I see it everywhere on here.


on another note, sour/wild ales are a creation. They take years to perfect and a little luck. You will never find a cantillon ale that is the same from batch to batch, or russian rivers sours that are the same batch to batch. Its the nature of the beast! I am still one that wants original black metal and wytchmaker back. Those were damn good beers and I would drink a crap ton of wytchmaker when I would go out. Im not a fan of the farmhouse counterparts.I definitely think the new batch of das was not ready yet. Big props to JK for doing it their own way and in Texas never the less.

JK is still a new brewery in terms of their counterparts that have been doing sour beers, I hope they can continue doing it their own way.

 

For the record, as someone who comes from a state with Jolly Pumpkin and now lives in Austin... I'd take JK over JP any day of the week based on their sours.

 

They are working on increasing production, if you would read Jeff's Posts in the JK thread, dick.