Beer Review: Cerveza de Tempranillo

Reviewing the Cerveza de Tempranillo, a barrel aged wild ale refermented with Tempranillo grapes from Jester King Craft Brewery out of Austin, Texas.

Score: 85

January 2014 vintage bottle served in a Surly Darkness chalice and enjoyed on 08/20/14.

Appearance: Clean appearance; red grape/cherry juice red in color,. Pours a thin layer of off white head that settles to a ring around the glass. Poor lacing, solid retention. Love the color, though its not as vibrant at other fruited sour projects I have encountered in recent memory. 4.25/5

Smell: Sweet grape, must, oak/wood, dusty attic funk and a hint of bleu cheese. The funk seems more present  on some whiffs, while absent on others. Bizarre. 3/5

Taste: Red wine-like, dryly sweet grape flavor with a little bit of cheesy funk on the finish. Vinous and a bit tannic. Cold and right after the bottle is opened, there is a bit of funk that largely breathes out after about 20 or 30 minutes. Tastes more like wine than a (sour) beer. Finishes with a mix of acidity and fusel alcohol, plus a hint of residual vinegar. Not quite what I was expecting, but solid. 3.5/5

Mouthfeel: Light bodied, low carbonation (maybe a touch under-carbonated). Modestly sweet profile with a tannic, dry finish. Drinks very wine-like, and unlike a beer. 3.75/5

Overall: Solid, but nothing special. Drinks more like a red wine with a bit of funk than a beer.

Cost: $15 for a 500 ml bottle.

Beer Review: Nocturn Chrysalis

Reviewing the Nocturn Chrysalis from the Jester King Craft Brewery out of Austin, Texas.

Score:91

May 2014 vintage bottle served in a stemmed Jester King beer glass and enjoyed on 07/17/14.

Appearance: Pours a blackberry pulp color akin to New Glarus R&D Very Sour Blackberry, with a thin layer of light purple head that quickly settles to a thick ring around the glass. Solid lacing, great retention. 4.25/5

Smell: Blackberry jam and lacto primarily, with notes of lemon, oak and vanilla. Well integrated and pleasant nose. The nose is not quite "blackberry yogurt," but the comparison is apt nonetheless. 4.25/5

Taste: Has a sour bite upfront with oak and blackberry, followed by a surprisingly faint lacto flavor. Finishes with a dry, lemon juice-like, slightly acidic sourness without much flavor. No real linger on this beer. 4/5

Mouthfeel: Medium-light bodied, appropriately carbonated. Dry finish, good sourness. Good balance, with a nice, light acidity. Could use a little sweetness. 4/5

Overall: This beer is good, but nowhere near the level of quality relative to other Jester King fruited sour projects such as Atrial Rubicite and Omniscience & Proselytism. I think this beer might be a bit too overattenuated. The sourness and blackberry flavor is nice, but the lack of sweetness from the fruit sugars holds this one back from being great.

Cost: $15 for a 500 ml bottle.

Beer Review: Omniscience & Proselytism

Reviewing Omniscience & Proselytism, a wild ale fermented in oak barrels with strawberries from the Jester King Craft Brewery out of Austin, Texas.

Score: 97

Fall 2013 vintage bottle served in a Kuhnhenn snifter and enjoyed on 05/28/14. Thank you Scott for sending me this delicious treat!

Appearance: Pours a nice sunset orange color with a nice orange-to-yellow fade. Okay lacing, good retention. 4/5

Smell: Bright strawberry jam and seeds, oak, hay, black pepper and a hint of plastic. A hint of lemon zest too. So jammy, so strawberry forward. 5/5

Taste: Strawberry jam, crackers, lemon rind, oak, hay and more strawberry on the finish. Although somewhat simplistic in how strawberry-forward this beer is, it has some nice supplemental complexities. Lasting strawberry fruit-by-the-foot finish. 4.75/5

Mouthfeel: Medium/medium-light bodied, spot on carbonation. Juicy mouthfeel with a very dry finish. Great tartness, mild acidity. 4.75/5

Overall: Wow. So...much...strawberry. This was better than Atrial Rubicite in my opinion, perhaps because I love strawberries so much. This is my favorite strawberry sour sampled to date.

Cost: Unknown (bottle was a gift).

Beer Review: Jester King Black Metal Imperial Stout

Reviewing the Black Metal Imperial Stout from Jester King Craft Brewery. I was not planning on drinking this beer, which is retired and no longer brewed, but in pulling out beers for a tasting tomorrow, I inadvertently dropped the bottle and "pssst'd" the cap. Thankfully no beer was lost, but a broken seal means that this one has to be consumed now (or it'll be flat later).
Score: 85

Bottle has "2013" imprinted on it, which I have to presume is the "best by" date (otherwise I received this bottle from the future). Served in a Dogfish Head snifter and enjoyed on 03/07/12. The label claims this beer is best enjoyed while reading the Necronomicon. I guess watching the Evil Dead will have to suffice as an alternative.

Appearance: Pours a jet black color, totally opaque. No light slices through this beer, though you can kind of tell that a very faint amount of light is trying to peek through at the very top of the beer. Pours two fingers of foamy milk chocolate colored head that kind of turns kind of creamy in appearance as it settles into a thin layer atop the glass (and ultimately into a ring around the glass). Above average lacing for a double digit ABV beer. Excellent retention. 5/5

Smell: Dark chocolate, cocoa powder and tons of roasted coffee. Some hops and a faint smokiness. Figs, a light amount of alcohol and an acidic coffee filter smell too. 3.5/5

Taste: Acidic, burnt coffee upfront. The coffee then subsidies into a dark chocolate residual flavor that provides a really pleasant balance to an otherwise aggressive first impression. There's definitely some dark cherry and dried fig (sweetness) on the midpalate, but these flavors do not linger or last for very long at all. There's a really raw, bitter chocolate finish. Really bitter-forward; this brew could use some dark fruit sweetness to balance out the bitterness. A roasted, but not burnt, coffee flavor grows throughout the beer as it layers. The 10% ABV is pretty well hidden. A solid, un-complex brew. 3.5/5

Mouthfeel: Medium bodied, light carbonation. Feels a little bit thin for a 10% ABV Russian Imperial Stout. Smooth mouthfeel on the way down. Finishes bitter, dry and "chalky." 3.5/5

Overall: A gorgeous looking Russian Imperial Stout, but it's all downhill from there. Certainly a solid brew in the style, but it does not stand out in terms of aroma, flavor or mouthfeel. Not over priced at $10 a bottle, especially at 10% ABV, but Leinenkugel's Big Eddy Russian Imperial Stout was much better, and you can get four 12 oz bottles of that for a couple of bucks more.

Recommendation: Definitely give this beer a whirl if you get a chance, but don't break a sweat seeking it out.

Pairings: Merk's Almond Swiss cheese spread.

Cost: $9.99 for a 750 ml.