I just tried my first Jester King beer: commercial suicide. This is by far the worst beer I've ever had. It tasted like an ashtray. Smelled like one, too. It was also WAY over carbed. What a waste of $7 for a 750ml.

I'll never be buying anything from this brewery again. Shame for Texas.

Here's me pouring it out:


[This message has been edited by Helgs (edited 11/18/2011 7:26p).]

Agree. I was given one as a gift at a party I had, first glass I poured was a pint of head. And it tasted awful. Glad I didn't waste money on it.

I was given two bottles of Witchmaker, and I thought it was pretty good. Maybe they got too far off the beaten path?

On their website, they say that a huge batch was infected with wild yeast that wasn't detectable until the bottles where fully bottle-conditioned. That doesn't happen until the bottles hit the shelves, so their was no way they could detect it.

That's a big problem. That shouldn't happen. It was literally the worst tasting beer I've ever had, and I've had some pretty terrible, skunky-tasting homebrew before!

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It tasted like an ashtray. Smelled like one, too.

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sounds like an infection for sure.

not sure how that wouldn't be detected until bottled and conditioned. you can SEE an infection, although there might be some type of infection that i'm not familiar with.

I had that beer once at flying saucer, it the only beer in recent memory that I didn't finish. it was first beer of night too.

this was like a year ago.

Depends on the wild yeast as to if you would see it or not. It's definitely a QC issue though. Bottles should have been held for a bit before being released, especially since they were trying to use a new yeast strain to bottle condition. The gushing issue is almost certainly from that although if the wild yeast was over attenuating, that could very well be the cause too.

never tried one, but thats because I have heard nothing but bad things from everyone who has tried any of their offerings.

That's a shame. Their stout is quite good and their collaboration with Mikkeller was good as well.

On tap, the Witchmaker was excellent. They've decided to only produce it in the 750ml bottles. I have one in the fridge from about 2 months ago. Guess I'll pop the top tonight to see if it's shite. I hear they are going to producing sour mash beers as their main product. I don't know what the hell that is.

Mmmm sour beers. Their newest beer Das Wunderkind is great!! I love their beers, but then again I really like sour beers and am happy to see that I can finally get some in Texas. Jolly Pumpkin makes some great sours but we can't get it here.

One year later and Jester King really seems to be humming along. I really enjoyed my trip out there to the brewery.

I've never heard anything but good things about Jester King, but I haven't been able to get my hands on any.

I certainly wouldn't write off an entire brewery after trying ONE of their beers ONE time, either.

Which is why my current favorite summertime beer is the Shiner Ruby Redbird. I couldn't STAND it the first time I tried it. It's much better on draft.

Went out to thier brewery about a month ago adm all of the collaborations with Mikkeller were pretty good but thier proprietary beers were crap.

Also, I think thier concept is ******y. Thier goal is to replace the wine bottle at the dinner table.

Witchmaker is their only beer worth a ****.

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Also, I think thier concept is ******y. Thier goal is to replace the wine bottle at the dinner table.

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Boooooo.

Really don't understand the hate some of you dish out. This is a small business on its way up, experimenting along the way. There have been some misses and failures, but some of you act like you want to punish them for stretching the boundaries.

My take is that a lot of Texas breweries are trying to get on the bandwagon like a lot of Texas wineries were doing 5 years ago. In doing so, they make a product that they can slap a "Texas" label on, and quality be damned. I understand the need to get product out to start recouping investments, but if you're putting out a bad product, you won't be in business very long.

There are a lot of bad Texas wines being made right now, and people are drinking them, based solely on the novelty of a Texas wine. However, the day is quickly coming where there are going to be some wineries making good wines, that the bad ones are going to be left in the dust, and there aren't going to be enough tourists to keep them afloat.

I will give you that point about a lot of bad Texas wine right now. I've had plenty of bad stuff, but God bless 'em for trying. What will Texas wine look like in 20 years? I'm excited about that.

Beer makers have always stuck me as more noble and dedicated to the art of making beer, while too many wineries think they can make wine by just planting grapes as an investment. The Jester King guys probably spent years brewing homebrew in their garages, much like a lot of people on the beer thread. That's why i don't understand the hate. These guys are like you, only they had the balls to put their asses on the line and open a place up to see if they could earn a living with what they love doing.

The problem could be that all their friends that were trying their beer didn't have the guts to tell them that their product isn't any good. I don't know, because I haven't tried their beers.

I was using "you" collectively, not directed at Htown.

If enough people don't like it, then the market will take care of them shortly. I was speaking more to the vitriol earlier in the thread.

Jedter King is doing great things for all other breweries in Texas... Yea, you may not like their brews, but you should take a look at all the other stuff they are doing. At least Jester King is stepping outside the bounds of the typical "Shiner" mold.

Jester King is essentially spearheading the movement of getting stupid TABC laws changed (some already are changing). Plus, the "wild yeast" concept is something that is pretty new in Texas.

I would say don't judge Jester King until you go out and tour the place. Take a look at all the cool stuff they are doing and sample some of their beers at the brewery. Infections happen to all breweries... Heck, I've got a 20 dollar bottle of Abyss (by Deschutes) aging that may or may not be infected.

Oh... and go have a bottle of Black Metal and then come back to me...

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Really don't understand the hate some of you dish out. This is a small business on its way up, experimenting along the way. There have been some misses and failures, but some of you act like you want to punish them for stretching the boundaries.

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This.


Oh and about replacing the wine bottle at dinner tables....that's always been the idea in a manner of speaking. Beer has been trying to do that for ages and actually has a ton more taste profiles than your typical wine, so I hope you were just being sarcastic there.

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Oh and about replacing the wine bottle at dinner tables....that's always been the idea in a manner of speaking. Beer has been trying to do that for ages and actually has a ton more taste profiles than your typical wine, so I hope you were just being sarcastic there.

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I have a problem with the word "replace." There are certain foods that wine pairs better with, and vice versa. "Co-exist" might be a better word.

I think some of you fail to see that this thread was from Nov 2011.

I have a Beer Geek Rodeo that I can't wait to pop open.

FWIW, Houston Jester fans, Petrol Station will have Cask noble king, cask petit prince, & gravity whiskey rodeo this Saturday @ noon

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It tasted like an ashtray. Smelled like one, too.
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sounds like an infection for sure.
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so he drank an infection??? i just threw up in my mouth

I was not being sarcastic.

Beer is, and should be, in my opinion a workings mans drink.

I make my beer for me to enjoy. Not to impress anyone.

I hope your not a wine snob, tannin discussing ******.

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so he drank an infection??? i just threw up in my mouth

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Have you ever had a sour? All that is is a Brett infection in a bottle. Infections can be good, if the beer is infected with the appropriate yeast/bacteria.

Ashtray flavor isn't caused by an infection. You taste band-aid? It's an infection.

You taste ashtray it's because they overused Black Patent malt.

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so he drank an infection??? i just threw up in my mouth

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There is no alcohol that you have ever consumed that was not created by some sort of controlled "infection."

In brewing terminology, the term infection is used when a brew is visited by an undesirable yeast, fungus or bacteria, as opposed to a planned / desirable yeast,, fungus or bacteria, which is required to turn sugar into alcohol.

i understand...... it just sounds nasty

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There are a lot of bad Texas wines being made right now, and people are drinking them, based solely on the novelty of a Texas wine.

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The same thing could be said for Shiner and Lone Star in the world of beer. Those beers are turrible, but people guzzle 'em down because they are "Texas beers." Breweries such as Jester King, Southern Star, Austin Beerworks, etc. are already putting out quality products, and will only get better as time progresses. Even St. Arnolds is improving (see Endeavor). Hopefully people will start branching out and try these brews instead of the ususal dreck.

JK is a cutting edge brewery and puts out some great and unique beers. Try Mad Meg, you won't regret it.