Seasonal Farmhouse release that focuses on local Texas ingredients. This one is chock full of grapefruit zest, fresh rosemary, and dried chilis, there’s no shortage of those here. What you get is a savory wonderland of funky flavor. It’s delightful.
C: Pale Copper
A: Apricot, pear, grape with savory rosemary
T: Light fruits with bread and bitter citrus peel
F: Dry, with warmth from the chilis
B: Light to medium
This rendition of Provenance features lemon and lime. These fruits come through in the flavor more than any other, which is the idea, I suppose. Tons of zesty citrus, mostly peel, and light honey flavors, this is another one that speaks to the day drinking part of my brain.
C: Opaque, deep golden lemon
A: Lemon and lime, herbal
T: Fresh, spritzy citrus with clover honey
F: Soft mouthfeel and dry finish
B: Light to medium
Final Entropy is a collaboration with Jackie O’s Pub and Brewery in Athens, Ohio. A simple incarnation, it’s a Kolsch-style brew with all the grass, sweet hay, cracker, and light citrus you would expect, but with a Jester King twist; it’s funky and tart as hell. Easy drinking at 5.3% ABV and perfect for a hot day in the Hill Country.
C: Slightly hazy deep golden
A: Heavy grass with citrus peel; savory cracker
T: Essence of the fields with dry grass, sweet hay, and an herbaceous sweetness
F: Tart and dry
B: Medium
This Flanders Red-style ale is brewed in honor of one of the original brewers of JK beers, Russ Beattie. It’s a hefty beer brimming with flavor; barrel-aged, unpasteurized, unfiltered, naturally conditioned, and brewed with unicorn tears. Anyway, it’s magnificent.
C: Hazy mahogany
A: Wood, for sure, plus tart prunes, figs
T: Figs and prunes continue with leather, vanilla and tobacco; super tart
F: Oak brings tons of balance to all that tart fruit
B: Medium to full
This fabulous bitch is brewed as a collaboration with Live Oak Brewing Co. They bring their classic Hefeweizen and JK brings the beast…I mean yeast. It has the aroma of funky toes and that is a beautiful thing. It comes with all the appropriate accouterments; banana, bubblegum, clove and then takes you to the tarty darkside. And boom…you’re in love.
C: Clear golden…surprisingly
A: Tart banana bread, with a heavy dash of toe cheese (yes!!)
T: Banana again, with bubblegum, apricot and lighter fruits as well as clovey goodness
F: Quick, tart and bready
B: Light
It’s Friday! That means it’s time to drink the most poundable, sessionable offerings from your faves. This week it’s Odell Loose Leaf on the chopping block.
In a video released by The High End, Anheuser-Busch InBev’s craft division, five brewers including David Buhler of Elysian, Walt Dickinson of Wicked Weed, Garrett Wales of 10 Barrel, Andy Ingram of Four Peaks, and Steve Crandall of Devils Backbone respond to the new “Independent Craft” seal released by the Brewers Association.
When did it become a fight against wine and spirits? Seems like AB InBev is trying to change the point of the label, which is to distinguish breweries that are truly independent and which ones now have some or full ownership by a big beer brewery that doesn’t put their name on the package. Maybe they’re also trying to change the conversation. What are your thoughts?
Beer lovers may soon have a gut-friendly drink to raise a toast to, thanks to the creation of a novel probiotic sour beer by a team of researchers from the National University of Singapore (NUS). This new specialty beer incorporates the probiotic strain Lactobacillus paracasei L26, which was first isolated from human intestines and has the ability to neutralise toxins and viruses, as well as regulate the immune system.Read More
It’s nearly July, it’s Texas, it’s 1 million degrees Kelvin…yes that’s a thing, so you know what I want to drink tonight? A barrel-aged Imperial Stout, obviously. That Deschutes Abyss has been calling my name since I dropped it in the fridge a while ago. A beer like that usually calls for celebratory circumstances but, screw it, what’s worth celebrating more than the end of the work week.
While small and independent craft brewers represent 99 percent of the 5,300+ breweries in the U.S., they make just 12 percent of the beer sold in the country. The rest of U.S. beer sales comes from Big Beer along with imported brands. As large brewers continue to have unprecedented influence and acquire millions of barrels of formerly independently brewed beer, the seal differentiates in a crowded and increasingly competitive marketplace.Read More