Figlet
(has 1 batch)
Jester King Brewery in Austin, Texas, United States 🇺🇸
Farmhouse - Sour Saison Rotating|
Score
7.12
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We’re very excited to introduce Jester King Figlet, brewed in collaboration with the world famous Franklin Barbecue in Austin, Texas! We love working with local artisans doing exceptional and creative things in the food and beverage world, and Franklin Barbecue is of course no exception.
The original impetus for this collaboration came from the filming of an upcoming episode of BBQ With Franklin, which will air on KLRU-TV, Austin PBS. Aaron Franklin set out to explore the use of smoke in beer making for the episode. We wanted to branch out beyond the traditional use of smoked malt and opted to take a local ingredient that was in season — Texas figs — and use it as a medium to impart characteristics from Franklin’s barbecue pits into the beer. Local figs were caramelized with heat and cold smoked at Franklin Barbecue. Aaron charred a portion of the figs, which imparted a subtle burnt, almost leathery, character to the beer. The base beer was designed to integrate the flavors and aromas of the smoked figs with our house fermentation characteristics, which stem from mixed culture fermentation with a blend of brewer’s yeast, wild yeast from the Texas Hill Country, and native souring bacteria. While we typically brew beer with a sizable majority of pilsner malt in the grist, in this case our Head Brewer Garrett Crowell opted for a base of Dark Munich malt, which he felt complemented the smoky and lightly caramelized character of the figs.
The original impetus for this collaboration came from the filming of an upcoming episode of BBQ With Franklin, which will air on KLRU-TV, Austin PBS. Aaron Franklin set out to explore the use of smoke in beer making for the episode. We wanted to branch out beyond the traditional use of smoked malt and opted to take a local ingredient that was in season — Texas figs — and use it as a medium to impart characteristics from Franklin’s barbecue pits into the beer. Local figs were caramelized with heat and cold smoked at Franklin Barbecue. Aaron charred a portion of the figs, which imparted a subtle burnt, almost leathery, character to the beer. The base beer was designed to integrate the flavors and aromas of the smoked figs with our house fermentation characteristics, which stem from mixed culture fermentation with a blend of brewer’s yeast, wild yeast from the Texas Hill Country, and native souring bacteria. While we typically brew beer with a sizable majority of pilsner malt in the grist, in this case our Head Brewer Garrett Crowell opted for a base of Dark Munich malt, which he felt complemented the smoky and lightly caramelized character of the figs.
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8.2/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 8
Flavor 8
Texture 8
Overall 9
Sour ale with smoked figs – which sounds unique, but has actually been done in Belgium before by Alvinne (a brewery I love and admire so comparison with their smoked fig sour will be inevitable for me, I guess). Batch four already, sampled from a 75 cl bottle at First Great Timternational Beer Geek Tasting. Off-white, mousy, medium thick head lacing in shreds over a cloudy orange blonde beer with almost amberish hue. Aroma of more fresh figs than actual smoked figs but the smokiness does appear clearly enough (wet cigarette tobacco, barbecue spices, touch of smoked ham), lime juice, dry white wine, gooseberries, dry biscuit, redcurrant, apple peel, rhubarb crumble somewhere. Sour onset but in softish, crisp way rather than being harshly acidic; lots of fruity tartness (gooseberry, redcurrant, sour grapes) with a slightly sweet, almost peachy core to it providing lovely balance. Medium carbonated, bread crumb- and biscuit-like malt body dried by ongoing berry-like tartness, until that smokiness comes along retronasally with a somewhat umami-like touch to it, but all the time remaining subordinate to the overall tartness; Late in this interesting flavour ‘parcours’, a spicy, drying hop bitterness shows up, but does not clash with the sourness nor the smoky touch. Fig flavours unsurprisingly linger, but impressions of gooseberry and rhubarb remain behind as well. Very complex, delicious, utterly well-constructed and distinct Jester King beer; I know it is only the added fruit that has been smoked, but that was also the case in Alvinne’s smoked fruit sours – three different ones in total that I know of – and somehow I remember those as being a bit more punchy in that respect.
Tried
from Bottle
on 15 Apr 2019
at 14:14
8/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 8
Flavor 8
Texture 8
Overall 8
Imported from my RateBeer account as Jester King Figlet (by Jester King Brewery):
Aroma: 8/10, Appearance: 4/5, Taste: 8/10, Palate: 4/5, Overall: 16/20, MyTotalScore: 4/5
13/IV/19 - 75cl bottle from Bierhalle Deconinck (Vichte), shared @ Timternational Beer Geek Tasting, Gentse Biervereniging (Gent), BB: n/a, batch #4: IX/2017 - (2019-484)
GUSHER ALERT! Little cloudy amber beer, small creamy beige head, little stable, bit adhesive. Aroma: pretty smoky up front, funky and wild, bit fruity, sweet, weird, peaches, sour fruits. MF: ok carbon, medium body. Taste: pretty sourish, funky, fruity, very nice, bit lemony, pretty dry. Aftertaste: dry, funky, sourish, some yellow stone fruits, bitter touch, some tannins, more fruity, nice stuff!
Aroma: 8/10, Appearance: 4/5, Taste: 8/10, Palate: 4/5, Overall: 16/20, MyTotalScore: 4/5
13/IV/19 - 75cl bottle from Bierhalle Deconinck (Vichte), shared @ Timternational Beer Geek Tasting, Gentse Biervereniging (Gent), BB: n/a, batch #4: IX/2017 - (2019-484)
GUSHER ALERT! Little cloudy amber beer, small creamy beige head, little stable, bit adhesive. Aroma: pretty smoky up front, funky and wild, bit fruity, sweet, weird, peaches, sour fruits. MF: ok carbon, medium body. Taste: pretty sourish, funky, fruity, very nice, bit lemony, pretty dry. Aftertaste: dry, funky, sourish, some yellow stone fruits, bitter touch, some tannins, more fruity, nice stuff!
Tried
from Bottle
on 13 Apr 2019
at 21:14
6.8/10
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Appearance 6
Aroma 7
Flavor 7
Texture 6
Overall 7
Rating #5000. $11.99 bomber from Wine Warehouse. Pours clear red with a small beige head. Aroma is art fruit - probably the fig, light smoke, light wheat or hay. Flavor is tart fruit (again, probably the fig), light barnyard, light earth. Surprisingly very little smoke, which is disappointing (and the reason I saved this one for 5k). Fine, but unmemorable for a milestone.
Tried
on 03 Feb 2019
at 19:53
7.4/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 7
Flavor 7
Texture 8
Overall 7.5
On draft at Dominion Wine and Beer. Pours a cloudy amber with an ecru head. Aromas of sour grapes and figs. Flavors are sour but not over the top with some sweet jam.
Tried
from Draft
on 13 Jan 2019
at 22:48
6.8/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 7
Flavor 6
Texture 6
Overall 7
Bottle shared by Stacey, thanks for the opportunity! Earthy light funk and smoke. Lightly fruity spicy yeasty, Not horrible smokey not bad. Notes on this not too great.
Tried
from Bottle
on 25 Oct 2018
at 02:22
7.4/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 7
Flavor 7
Texture 8
Overall 7.5
Batch 4 750mL bottle shared by Stacey on 10/13/18. Hazy copper-peach with an off-white head that fades to a ring. Fruity nose is interesting, with low souring agents and lots of apricot and peach. Brett undercurrent propels it on. Very even. In the mouth, apricot peach, leathery stone fruit and Brett lead to lightly tart band aid. Good mineral and complexities from mixed ferm character. Very peachy with low, tight carbonation.
Tried
from Bottle
on 13 Oct 2018
at 21:42
6.8/10
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Appearance 6
Aroma 7
Flavor 7
Texture 6
Overall 7
750 ml bottle. Batch 4. Hazy Amber appearance. Aroma is mild smoke, weak figs, honey, tree bark. Thankfully, the flavor is not overly smokey, tart farmhouse notes, mild smoke, a light lasting tart finish.
Tried
from Bottle
on 13 Oct 2018
at 20:34
7.2/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 7
Flavor 7
Texture 8
Overall 7
Poured from bottle thanks Stacey reddish orange white head. Aroma is light funk figs tart citrus. Taste follows not overly acetic but fruit comes thru with a lingering lemon finish.
Tried
from Bottle
on 13 Oct 2018
at 20:32
7.5/10
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Appearance 6
Aroma 7
Flavor 7
Texture 10
Overall 8
Leider wieder eine Jester Flasche mit Gushing. Tut dem Bier aber n.E. keinen Abbruch. In der Nase deutlich Feigen. Im Trunk leicht sauer, Feige, Äpfel, schnell sehr sehr trocken, tartig-pappig, bitter. Sehr lange noch im Abgang trocken. Hatte noch nie so ein trockenes Bier. Muss man mögen oder zumindest in der richtigen Stimmung sein. Nix für Einsteiger.
Tried
on 03 Jun 2018
at 14:11
8/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 8
Flavor 8
Texture 8
Overall 8
Bottle, 0.75l, shared with Gregor. Aroma of must, white wine, wood, dried mushrooms, smoke and soil. Cloudy brown amber color with thick creamy tan-like head and average sparkling appearance. Taste starts with light sweet caramel and cereals, follows by citrus, yeast and smoked figs with earthy note and mild bitter finish. Medium body, creamy texture and average carbonation in palate. Aroma is a bit surprising, however tastes very nice, I could brer even more figs...
Tried
from Bottle
on 02 Jun 2018
at 12:17