Can't say I got two much tequila flavor out of the Encendia either. Really like the Nocturn. Didn't have batch one to compare it though.

I agree on the Encendia. I didn't get much chili or Mezcal flavor, but I had it on tap out at Jester King. I have a few bottles that I haven't cracked yet, I have heard/read that the flavor is much different (better?) after a little "bottle magic".

[This message has been edited by AgEng06 (edited 6/24/2014 8:43a).]

Anybody in Clear Lake/League City seen/been to Tapology? New place on 2094 where the Berry Hill used to be. Not sure what their selection is like.

I traded a JK Encendia for a Brew Dog Tokyo with a friend. Supposed to be 18.2% abv. This should be interesting.

Didn't get much chili in encendia either. I mostly picked up the agave flavors and the epazote. RU55 remains my favorite brew from JK.

RU55 is great. I am a big fan of the JK beers. I have become especially fond of the fruit brewed/fermented ones lately: Nocturn, Atrial, Biere de Miel, Hibernal, etc.

Does JK even make their "regular" beers anymore? Haven't seen Black Metal or Wytchmaker in a long time. El Cedro was another one of my favorites. Occasionally see something like Noble King.

I've seen them in HEB. Spec's seems to have shrunk their selection a bit. Aren't some of those seasonals too?

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Does JK even make their "regular" beers anymore? Haven't seen Black Metal or Wytchmaker in a long time. El Cedro was another one of my favorites. Occasionally see something like Noble King.

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Nope... they've stated that they are going to almost exclusively sours. They also seem to be pretty content to sell most everything at the brewery. Some of the larger batch stuff may see distro (Wunderkind is a recent example). My hope is as the amount of beer made increases, the distribution will also increase. Although, it seems like they are just making more varieties of beer and not necessarily larger batches.

Does anyone know if heavy machinery or greenhouse has shown up in Houston?

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Does anyone know if heavy machinery or greenhouse has shown up in Houston?

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My understanding is that Keg 1 is the new distributor for Hops & Grain. Do they distribute to Houston?

Thought i read Keg 1 only distributes in Central Tx. Gonna suck if i can't get any H&G brews, specifically Zoe, in Houston any more. First world problems, yada yada.

*Also, Central Market in Houston usually has Noble King and Commercial Suicide. They also had Boxer's Revenge for a while. The Chevron at West and Telge has bunch of stuff also, but i haven't checked the dates.

[This message has been edited by cc10106 (edited 6/24/2014 1:54p).]

That's us as well (in DFW), although for any folks to the west of the Metroplex, they do make it as far north as Weatherford. I I am keeping my eyes open for it in a few spots....

I wonder if JK hasn't contaminated their entire brewery with wild yeast and souring bacteria, that it prevents them from making more traditionally brewed beers.

As often as they use the phrase "sense of place" it wouldn't surprise me. Not sure that they'd care. Wouldn't mind some more of their other offerings though.

JK usually sells those beers at the brewery, so not sure it is a contamination deal. Although their last batch of Wytchmaker was done with souring bacteria, not sure if that was intentional or not. I think it's just a case of what they want to focus on now. They also have higher price point on their farmhouse stuff, so I'm sure that doesn't hurt their decision.

Don't get me wrong, I love their sours. Funk Metal, Boxers, RU55 are all favorites of mine. But it was their regular lineup that got me into them. I could go to HEB and pick something up. I never see stuff at HEB anymore. I saw an occasional Ol Oi and Boxers when they were out, but nothing else. Maybe its selfishness, but I don't want to have to go out to the brewery just to pick up a beer.

I thought I read somewhere that they intended to add the souring bacteria to all their beers and were going to make all their beers wild. Perhaps that wasn't the case, they all got contaminated and then just decided to go all sour.

Said it before, and I'll say it again.

Sour beer, so hot right now.

The Beer and I - where the beers are sold isn't of importance. I just assume that they've contaminated the facility to where no matter what, anything they make will be infected. Whether it is a good infection or a bad one. But at least with them going all wild/sour now, it's expected from the customers. I just think that the reason they made that change was because they contaminated the brewery, not by design. So it was either kill it with fire and start over, or just run with all wild/sour ales. It's an easy way to save face.

[This message has been edited by La Fours (edited 6/24/2014 3:16p).]

An excerpt directly from the guys at JK:

"Our motivation isn't a secret. We make a significantly better margin selling beer at our brewery than through a distributor. We've watched from afar as out of state breweries we respect in states that allow direct sales have flourished, while we've been left spinning our wheels to some extent. We've wanted to hire more brewers and expand our barrel program by an order of several magnitudes for a long time, but haven't been able to do so but for the money. We're confident the potential law change will allow us to do these things. We make no apology for this. We frankly feel that it should be the right of a brewer in the free world to sell beer to beer drinkers."

That kind of gives you an idea of their whole philosophy right now... JK is officially a brewpub, but they have to stay under 10,000 barrels (which they are still way under at the moment).

I tried to find the excerpt about going sour only on BA, but couldn't track it down. It was probably in the "brewery only" thread that got shut down.

I heard the whole place was contaminated, but who knows if it's true.

Btw, Hay Merchant is having a JK cask takeover tomorrow at 5 if you're in Houston and wanna guzzle sours.

La Fours, I was saying that they sell it at the brewery, so they are still making it, just not in the huge quantities that they used to.

My bad, TBaI, I misunderstood your comment.

JAH - Garrett posted an AMA on talkbeer a month or two ago. One of his statements was along the lines of it was a calculated change that they had been planning and wanted to make, going to all wild fermentation that is.

Bourbon County Barleywine showing up at HEBs in Austin today. Picked up some at the one at Slaughter/Escarpment but they only got one case.

Plenty of breweries do open and oak fermentations in the same facilities as their stainless fermentation. Avery, Alagash, Russian River, Cigar City, New Belgium, Hill Farmstead, and the Bruery all come to mind. Some do it better than others, ie Avery, RR, and New Belgium, while others have had their fair share of problems, ie Bruery and Cigar City. It's all about how you run your schedules, clean your equipment, and house the beer.

My theory would be that JK is just choosing to focus more on wild and farmhouse style ales. Similar to the philosophies of Crooked Stave, DeGarde, Side Project, Oxbow, etc.

[This message has been edited by ncoloradoag (edited 6/24/2014 4:24p).]

So not knowing about anything where I'm at up in the DFW area I found an HEB central market and grabbed some sculpin and imperial Texan doubled red at the suggestion of the beer dude. I was pleasantly surprised to find out I got 20% off of the beer. Should have grabbed some more. Anyone know anything bout this imperial Texan?

Yes. It is out of Martin House Brewery in Fort Worth. Newer brewery and a very solid beer. Probably my favorite offering from them. It is a Red Imperial IPA. 8.7% so be careful, or don't.

http://martinhousebrewing.com/the-beer/imperial-texan/

I've been drinking the hell out of the Martin House Rubberneck Red Toadies beer

That Martin House Imperial Texan is delicious!

Broke this open tonight and really enjoyed it. Didn't taste a ton like an IPA I thought. Very dark coloring as well for an IPA. Interesting beer with a slightly smokey nose, strong caramel notes and subtle cherry on the finish.

Imperial Texan is good, but peticolas' velvet hammer destroys it.

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That Martin House Imperial Texan is delicious!

Broke this open tonight and really enjoyed it. Didn't taste a ton like an IPA I thought. Very dark coloring as well for an IPA. Interesting beer with a slightly smokey nose, strong caramel notes and subtle cherry on the finish.

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I haven't been impressed with founders offerings

I'm headed to Russian River Brewing next Wednesday. First time there, so I'm pretty excited.

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Imperial Texan is good, but peticolas' velvet hammer destroys it.

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Best beer in Dallas.

Had Peticolas Golden Opportunity tonight with dinner too. Always good.

Boom. Yup, it is the best beer in Dtown which makes it one of the beer beers in Texas. And golden opportunity is amazingly drinkable and delicious. Really wish they'd bottle.

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I'm headed to Russian River Brewing next Wednesday. First time there, so I'm pretty excited.

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That Devil's Dancer is a month old. I picked up a 4 pack with same bottling date around 5/26 or so, and it tasted completely different on that date than if I opened one up today. It tasted like a real IPA just 10 days old, but now has a completely different profile. Liked it on 5/26, not a fan of it now. I'm keeping two more bottles to age, planning to open one around August or September to see how the beer has aged in 120 days, and then keep another until next spring.