Jester King Collabs

Some of them have their own threads, but I'm not sure there was a lot of discussion. I've had all except the Fantome one. I was a bit underwhelmed by a few of them. Buford's was really good though. One of the better beers they've produced, for me.

 

Buford's by far

 

I've only had the intersection of species, and it was ok.

 

ill prolly take heat for this, but all of them were pretty bad.

 

Shouldn't Kollabgjeaveoahgoieahvboiheoiahoieahvoiehwaoihwaoihvewave be up there?

 

What about foudreweizen too? Because that would be the clear winner by miles and miles.

 

Give me the Mikkeller Weasels, but you're right.

 

I havent been that impressed with the recent collaborations. I havent had Bufords though

This. I havent been a big fan of any of them really. Only somewhat recent collaborations Ive really liked were World's Worst Twin and Sin Frontera. Both of those were last year.

 

I don't think so. It's quite a shift from the previous ones and I think many of the BA's here will notice.

Foudreweizen ?
Kollaboration ?
Imperial Cabinent?
Figlet v2?

As already mentioned:
WW Twin?
Sin Frontera?

I honestly think the missing element in most of the collabs was some element of sourness. It's not surprising to me that the poll here is showing Burford's as the favorite; it's also the one with the most sour JK character that we've come to expect; it's part of JK's terroir IMHO.

I wrote a short bit about the current releases over on r/AustinBeer .

 

For what it is, I though Multifarious was pretty tasty. I was actually pleasantly surprised it didn't have a sour/tartness element to it.

 

I agree. It is a nice low(er) ABV, roasty/smoky stout. Nothing too crazy, but super easy drinking for a darker beer.

 

It's a solid beer, but for the same price or less I'd rather a grab a 4/6 pack of something off the shelf that's as good, if not better.

I haven't had Buford's yet, but I haven't been impressed with most of the collabs either. Foudreweizen was the best one, but I think that speaks more to how good Live Oak Hefe is.

 

I really wish they would slow down with the collaborations. They're not the greatest, and I wish they would make bold/massively fruity (Batch 5 AR was amazing) beers again. The whole restraint thing pains me. With all that being said, keep cranking out Funk Metal, and they'll have a customer for life. Some MvB, AR, or FM glassware would be nice as well.

 

Ya'll are nuts. Intersection, fouderweizen, bufford's, Sin Frontera, I haven't even had the others. JK'S bugs are legit. The beer is very good. The fruits will come with the warm weather. As they should. Quit crying

 

Fantome del rey was interesting. Intersection, audio, and multifarious were good but forgettable. Collabs are fun but I think in general the best beers are born out of repetition and tweaking. I mean, think of it this way. You don't see professional chefs going out and just winging it with some friends and selling the first attempt at a premium. Somehow this has become a trend in the beer world in part because of slim margins and length of time to produce a beer... and then it's marketed as a special limited one-off.

Collabs just seem to be, by their nature, more of a crapshoot. Especially if it's using wild yeast. I don't take any issue with it - it clearly seems to be an expression of creativity and stretching boundaries, which I fully support - but I go in with lower expectations.

 

from that list, buford was decent, the rest were pretty bad or just plain mundane.

 

This type of discussion has become pretty predictable. Big hops, malt, acidity, or fruit, or anything that's pretty obvious, piques excitement. Whereas subtlety, nuance, balance, and drinkabilitity is met with comments such as "mundane" and "forgettable". Of course Buford's Roadside Wares is among our most favorite recent collaborations. It has the most acidity, which translates into the most fireworks for people looking to be wowed by beer, presumably while drinking it in small quantities aside several other beers. I know when we make something we're excited about like Le Petit Prince or Kollaborationsbier, it will rate low. I know when we put four pounds of fruit per gallon in a beer for refermentation, it will rate high. It's all so predictable. The bottom line for me is as long as we're making beers that are drinkable, enjoyable (to me), and have a connection to a time, place, and people, then I'm satisfied. -- Jeff

 

Brash collab coming up?

 

I really enjoyed Audio Palette, and I could drink gallons of it. I thought whatever brett is in the culture really came through and added to the bitterness of the hops. I feel like it really belongs to the Wytchmaker/Noble King/El Cedro group of beers I really enjoy.

I respect that you guys do what you want instead of pandering to the hype tickers.


You can please some of the people some of the time, but fool me twice ... you can't fool me again. Or something like that.
- DMX

 

I think if they did subtle, nuance and balance half as good as they did big hops, malt, acidity or fruit the discussion would be a lot less predictable.

 

I couldn't tell you. It's hard to get ahold of Jester King nowadays without driving directly to the source and fighting a giant crowd.

 

Clever, except for the fact that we don't make beers with big hops, malt or acidity. And if you think Le Petit Prince isn't the equal of Atrial Rubicite in terms of what it aspires to be, well then we'll just have to disagree. -- Jeff

 

He's just a troll. Don't feed the trolls, Jeff.

 

You're arguing a straw man. I prefer a lot of the 750s over Atrial, many of which are in fact acidic, malty or hoppy. I can list them if you like but you know your own product. My point was simply that you yourself have acknowledged what most people prefer.

 

I drank almost the whole 750 mL of on-site Buford I got, though it was meant to be split in half. I told the buddy I was with (visiting from Seattle) that if this beer was canned and less $ per oz (not realistic, but bear with me), I'd crush many 6ers this summer! It was great, and a half gallon would be enjoyable.

In your face hops, malt, or acidity aren't always good (I'm sure you agree). Getting hit in the face with hops is only good if the hops and beer are well done. Upland was exciting at first for doing fruited sours, but they were so acidic they became a joke. There are many nuanced, balanced beers the excitement-seekers love because it fits their palate. Look at the following Hans and Zoe have. Or the enjoyment someone can get from a gueuze with low acidity.

I thought Audio Palette was pretty good, but the bitterness lingered for too long while the flavor dissipated-- I found it unbalanced in that regard. Multifarious, as a 'smoked' beer, already has a lot of people in the probably do not like camp. Intersection puts together breweries known for their tart farmhouse and wild ales, and from the reports I've heard it is kind of hoppy fresh and will need months to go toward what people expected.

Jester King will continue to brew what JK likes. And people will continue to try them (or judge them based on description) and buy them or not. With more local breweries improving their lineups each month, there will be more competition for the customer's attention and spending. Hopefully giving enough consideration to the customers, many of whom have supported the brewery for years, would be worthwhile. Not to assert consideration is not given, but perhaps think over doing a few more sour-leaning (but nuanced) projects or collabs to go along with each set of non-sour. A Repose, Coquetier, or Sin Frontera reboot would be fun.

 

Or first batch Dichotomous with watermelon would be awesome...

 

but seriously, make whatever the heck you want, whenever you want. but dont expect everyone to have a taste for Figlet, Gotlandstricka, Multifarious, Queens Wheatwine, Amicis Mortis, Bonnie the Rare, etc.

 

The beers that make it to distribution are the beers that are less than stellar, I can't drive 400 miles to buy/try Repose, Foudreweizen, or RU55. If those beers where distributed to my local WFM/bar I would be all over it and a lot less sad about paying about $12 for the stuff that's sitting at your local shop/watering hole right now. I will never forget the day I opened my 1st 750 of boxers revenge(the early bourbon barrel batches) I said to myself, my fridge will never run out of this beer.

 

I think it's important to remember that JK became what they are by doing whatever they wanted to and not really giving a shit what other people thought about it. Punk Rock 101. Commercial Suicide, Petit Prince... coming out of the gate with beers like that takes balls and was a huge risk.

If JK just decided to pander to everyone else's desires it would essentially be a betrayal to their fans and customers. The collaborations are really cool, just don't compare them to something they're not. Keep em' coming!

 

It depends why you think the people are fans.
1. Are they ideologically with Jester King and behind the principle they should brew what they want, whether or not most customers like it?
2. Or are they fans of Jester King because JK has produced so many good beers over the years, beers the fans want to drink, whether or not those beers are in-line with the punk-rock mentality?

I enjoy CS and LPP when on-hand on occasion, but what really got me into JK was the first visit out to the land and atmosphere they strive so hard to put into each bottle, and enjoying some Boxer's, RU55, Das Uberkind (before any fruited sours came out).
If for some reason JK wanted to go the route of brewing with smoked malt, or short-term fermentation and hops (which describes a handful of their recent beers), or whatever you (reader) personally dislikes, Group 1 might dig it but who knows if they'd like them and how it would affect consumption. Group 2 would see beers not to their liking coming out find little reason to buy them. Group 2 would then feel betrayed, and Group 2 seems to be a lot bigger (an example of support for this is the poll at top).

Jester King can continue to satisfy both with some give-and-take IMO.

 

I don't think it's the fact that those beers are less than stellar, it's that they are not hyped. They're also larger batches. They're still better than a lot of beers on the shelf, but as Jeff said, nuance and subtitles are often over shadowed by big, bold flavors and considered inferior.

 

I hesitate to even go here, but here's a chronological list of our recent releases for this year:

2016 Hibernal Dichotomous -- blend of barrel aged sour beer with farmhouse ale
Fantome Del Rey -- blend of barrel aged sour beer with farmhouse ale
Cloudfeeder -- farmhouse ale
Boxer's Revenge -- barrel-aged sour beer
Feral Dampf -- farmhouse ale
Intersection of Species -- farmhouse ale
Funk Metal -- barrel-aged sour beer
Ol' Oi -- barrel-aged sour beer
Multifarious -- farmhouse ale
Buford's Roadside Wares -- barrel-aged sour beer
Audio Palette -- farmhouse ale
RU55 -- barrel-aged sour beer
Colour Five -- barrel-aged sour beer
2015 Autumnal Dichotomous -- farmhouse ale
Simple Means -- farmhouse ale
Figlet -- farmhouse ale
Commercial Suicide -- farmhouse ale

This is pretty consistent with what we've been doing for years, that is, about half our beer is stainless steel fermented farmhouse ale and half is barrel-aged sour beer (we of course blend the old with the young on occasion). If people aren't down with this diversity, that's fine. It satisfies my aforementioned criteria (drinkable, enjoyable, and has a connection to a time, place, and people), and since posters have brought economics into the conversation, it all sells through with 75% sold onsite at the brewery.

 

Its worth mentioning that not everyone has a palate that can appreciate, or hell, even detect 'nuance' and 'subtlety'...

I would even venture to say that most people - me included - can't go through a list of 75 different scents and flavors while reviewing or simply tasting a beer. In those cases, a lot of 'nuanced' beers are legitimately less enjoyable (or at least interesting) than something with bolder flavors.

With that said, I wouldn't tell Dairy Queen to stop selling vanilla cones, just make sure I can get an Oreo Blizzard!

 

Good points, but I'm just saying the gist of some users was "they should go back to fruited sours" which are beers that they didn't start out making originally. Those came with experimentation and experience, so based on that, one can assume additional great beers will result (and already have) from the additional collab experimentation. I'll take diversity over conformity any day.

 

Thanks for pointing this out. Our fruit refermentations of course are seasonal and depend on agriculture. So far this year, we've received strawberries, raspberries and cherries. Peaches are close. Apricots and blackberries aren't too far out. Grapes and blueberries will come later. I'm not going to dig into the details from last year right now, but we had quite a slew of fruit refermentations released during the warmer months as I recall.

 

That's great to see and is one of the things I really love about the brewery, especially because I live so close and stop in frequently. The menu is always different.

Are the Peaches from Fredericksburg? I saw that peach season came really early for them this year.

 

Yes they are.

 

Shouldn't you be enjoying Denmark instead of arguing with a bunch of nerds on a nerd website?