Simple Means
(has 1 batch)
Jester King Brewery in Austin, Texas, United States 🇺🇸
Altbier Rotating Out of Production|
Score
6.59
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Simple Means — Smoked Farmhouse Altbier. Altbier simply means “old beer” in German, and is traditional to the city and surrounding area of Düsseldorf, Germany. Altbier is a style that excites us because of its simplicity and drinkability. It’s easy to lose count of how many glasses of Altbier you’ve had in a session.
For our take on an Altbier, we felt the toasty notes from the malt played well with a fairly restrained dose of smoked malt. We added 23% beechwood smoked malt from Weyermann to a base of pale barley malt from Blacklands Malt. We then brewed with a fairly large dose of Perle hops at the start of the boil to keep the acidity in the beer from mixed culture fermentation at bay. Overall, Simple Means is an exercise in simplicity and restraint and is just good beer for drinking in our opinion.
For our take on an Altbier, we felt the toasty notes from the malt played well with a fairly restrained dose of smoked malt. We added 23% beechwood smoked malt from Weyermann to a base of pale barley malt from Blacklands Malt. We then brewed with a fairly large dose of Perle hops at the start of the boil to keep the acidity in the beer from mixed culture fermentation at bay. Overall, Simple Means is an exercise in simplicity and restraint and is just good beer for drinking in our opinion.
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7.4/10
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Appearance 6
Aroma 7
Flavor 8
Texture 8
Overall 7.5
750ml bottle thanks to rich. Dark brown, kind of see-through, small bubbly head. Smoky , peaty aroma, more Rauch than alt. Taste also features the smoked malts, earthy, peat. While they used an altbier as the base, the smoked malts puts this squarely in the rauchbier spectrum.
Tried
from Bottle
on 04 Mar 2017
at 13:54
6.3/10
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Appearance 6
Aroma 7
Flavor 6
Texture 6
Overall 6
Draught @ CBC 2016 [ Green Session ]. - Copenhagen Beer Celebration 2016, Oksnehallen Vesterbro, Halmtorvet 11, 1700 Copenhagen, Denmark. [ As Jester King Simple Means ].Clear medium orange amber color with a average, frothy, good lacing, mostly lasting, off-white head. Aroma is moderate malty, pale malt, fruity malt, smoked. Flavor is moderate sweet and bitter with a average duration, pale malt, floral, smoked, fruity malt. Body is medium, texture is oily to watery, carbonation is soft. [20160514] 7-3-6-3-12
Tried
on 15 Nov 2016
at 07:34
6.5/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 6
Flavor 6
Texture 6
Overall 7
750 ml. bottle shared with many. Batch #2 01.06.2016. Dark murky red amber, little tanned head. Nose is rotting dark fruit, soap, spoiled fruit with big sour glue, thinned out, makes me think more of infection than intentionally sour, profile-wise, also getting some smoke. Taste is smoke, thin, thin bodied with too high carbonation, low varnish, sour, oak, glue, spoiled red fruit, oak, smoked,.... Bottom of the bottle carries creamy yeast, improving the body a bit. Historically accurate I suppose but so is the black plague. In all seriousness, this comes across to much as just an infected brew even if they did things intentionally here, mildly interesting but really not that great.
Tried
from Bottle
on 20 Oct 2016
at 13:22
8/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 8
Flavor 8
Texture 8
Overall 8
750 ml bottle into signature tulip glass; batch #1, bottled on 11/2/2015. Pours lightkly hazy deep reddish brown color with a 2 finger fairly dense and rocky khaki head with great retention, that reduces to a nice cap that lasts. Dense soapy lacing clings on the glass, with a good amount of streaming carbonation retaining the cap. Fantastic appearance. Aromas of big caramel, brown sugar, brown bread, toasted biscuit, nuttiness, charred wood smoke, oak, light chocolate, peppercorn, peach, apricot, plum, apple, hay, straw, light musty funk, and yeast/toasted earthiness. Damn nice aromas with great balance and compelxity of fruity/spicy yeast and dark/bready/smoked malt notes; with great strength. Taste of big caramel, brown sugar, brown bread, toasted biscuit, nuttiness, charred wood smoke, oak, light chocolate, peppercorn, peach, apricot, plum, apple, hay, straw, light musty funk, and yeast/toasted earthiness. Good amount of peppery yeast spiciness, light tartness, and herbal/roast bitterness on the finish; with lingering notes of caramel, brown sugar, brown bread, toasted biscuit, nuttiness, wood smoke, oak, peppercorn, hay, straw, light funk, and yeast/toasted earthiness on the finish for a good bit. Damn nice complexity, robustness, and balance of fruity/spicy yeast and dark/bready/smoked malt flavors; with a great malt/spiciness balance and zero cloying flavors after the finish. High carbonation and medium body; with a very smooth, crisp, dry, and fairy creamy/bready balanced mouthfeel that is great. Zero warming alcohol as expected of 5.6%. Overall this is a great Altbier/saison style. All around great complexity, robustness, and balance of fruity/spicy yeast and dark/bready/smoked malt flavors; very smooth, crisp, and easy to drink. A very enjoyable offering.
Tried
from Bottle
on 19 Jul 2016
at 21:55
5.9/10
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Appearance 6
Aroma 6
Flavor 6
Texture 6
Overall 5.5
Tap@Copenhagen Beer Celebration 2016, Copenhagen - amber brown pour with beige head. Bready malty aroma and taste with some notes of caramel, some smoke, charred wooden and roasted notes into the finish. Not for me.
Tried
from Draft
on 11 Jul 2016
at 14:09