Jester King Unfiltered Pilsner Review

Name: Jester King Unfiltered Pilsner
Style: Pilsner
ABV: 5.1%
IBUs: N/A

As much as I love supporting the local craft beer scene here in Minnesota, I yearn for beers from other parts of the country. Were this 2015/2016, I'd opt for using r/beertrade on Reddit. However Reddit decided to shut that down back in 2018 which doesn't surprise me since Reddit had been, in my opinion, declining steadily into lameness for a few years at that point

In any case, I discovered Tavour one evening while using Untappd a month back and well....I haven't looked back since. I got a good variety of beers that I personally selected from them and I'll be taking a look at all of them.

One of these beers is from none other than Jester King Brewing, based out of Austin, TX. Today, I have their Unfiltered Pilsner, which is described as Jester King's first Pale Lager. This might not seem like such a big deal but when you consider that pretty much all of their beers are wild ales & sours, it's kind of a big deal.

Alright, enough talk, let's take a look at this beer.

Appearance - Cloudy golden color with lots of visible carbonation. The head itself is thin but with good retention and the lacing left behind is on the lighter side.

Aroma - Pilsner malts and floral hops mixed with some bready biscuit notes that comes off almost like fresh bread!

Taste - Upfront, you've got some potent Pilsner malts and floral hops while the back opens up to some vibrant lemon grass and biscuity notes. The aftertaste is a mixture floral and light bitter hoppiness.

Maybe it's because of how fresh it is or the ingredients used in this beer but I'm seriously digging this Pilsner! Everything is balanced perfectly but that biscuit flavor, for me, seals the deal. I already knew Jester King was a phenomenal brewery but this beer proves that they can make an excellent Pale Lager-style beer!

Jester King Unfiltered Pilsner - 9/10

Jester King Black Metal Review

Name: Jester King Black Metal 
Style: Imperial Stout
ABV: 9.3%
IBUs: 60

I think now is a good time to finish off the second Texas craft beer package that I got about a month ago, and now you can see why. Two of the beers sent to me were from Jester King Brewing based out of Austin, Texas.

Jester King is known for specialising in mostly Wild & Farmhouse (i.e. Saison) style ales so it comes as little shock to me that the first beer we're looking at is described as a Farmhouse Imperial Stout. I give to you Black Metal. On the label there are the ingredients plus a quote about introducing yeast strains to a fermenting beer and how sour beers have more character than non-sour beers.
.
Appearance - Pitch black with no visible carbonation. The head takes on a light brown color and is very foamy but I'm not getting any lacing along the sides of the glass.

Aroma - Strong chocolate malt and cherry sweetness/tartness upfront with some light Belgian Yeasts, a bit of toffeeness, some mild bitter hoppiness and maybe some light booziness. The cherry aspect of the nose reminds me a bit of Founder's Imperial Stout, though that is probably the sourness I'm getting and not the actual hops.

Taste - It's fairly identical to the nose. You've got strong chocolate malts with some Belgian yeastiness and a rather strong cherry sour tartness at first. As it warms up however, the tartness becomes more mellow and the beer starts to become more Imperial Stout-like in terms of overall flavor.

This is unlike any Imperial Stout I've had so far and the cherry sourness definitely takes you by surprise and tricks you into thinking it's hoppier than it actually is. With that said, it's a different Imperial Stout that trends unfamiliar territory, but it's a tasty one at that. If you ever find yourself in Texas, this one is a recommended buy.

Jester King Black Metal - 9/10

Real Ale Devil's Backbone Review

Name: Real Ale Devil's Backbone
Style: Tripel
ABV: 8.1%
IBUs: 35

Now I'm moving on to the last few beers from my Texas beer package. This beer is from Real Ale Brewing Company, based out of Blanco, Texas, who've made an appearance on this blog before in my Surly Blakkr Review as part of a collaboration Real Ale did with both Surly & 3 Floyds.

Today I've got an original offering from them in the form of Devil's Backbone, a Tripel-style ale that gets its name from a "winding stretch of highway in the Hill Country highway."

Appearance - A very bright yet extremely hazy yellow color with a thin yet foamy head with good lacing retention. I'm not picking up on any carbonation but that may be due in part to the haziness

Aroma - Starts out with some Belgian yeasts, cloves & light coriander followed by some pale maltiness and some bitter hoppiness in the back.

Taste - Belgian yeasts and cloves upfront, followed immediately by bitter hops, cloves and pale malts. Bit of coriander too but not as strong as the nose. Aftertaste is mainly Belgian yeasts and Bitter hops.

It's a good drinkable Tripel-style ale but at the same time, it doesn't do anything I haven't already seen and plays it safe for the most part. Don't get me wrong: I like it......but I don't love it.

Real Ale Devil's Backbone - 8/10

Lakewood Hop Trapp Review

Name: Lakewood Hop Trapp 
Style: Belgian IPA
ABV: 6.4%
IBUs: 55

Continuing on with my package of Texas craft beers, I'm moving along to a couple of beers from Lakewood Brewing, based out of Garland, TX. My first beer which I'll be having from them is Hop Trapp, which is their Belgian IPA.

When I was conducting the beer trade, I wasn't too specific about what I wanted as I usually like to be surprised, but I did request that at least a couple of the beers be Belgian-style with no regards to whether it be an IPA or Saison. Plus I have always wanted to try real craft beer from a state that is best known for Shiner. It's also been a few months since I've had a Belgian IPA so I'm very eager to try this out.

Appearance - Very dark & cloudy orange color with a small amount of visible carbonation. The head takes on a thin khaki-colored appearance and there is tons of lacing to back this up

Aroma - Rich citrus hops and coriander notes upfront, with a healthy amount of Belgian Yeasts & cloves and a solid caramel malt backbone to help round things out.

Taste - It doesn't deviate too much from the nose. You've still got the citra hop and coriander on the front of the palate, but there is also an addition of grapefruit notes as well. This is followed by some Belgian yeasts, cloves and caramelized malts. As for the aftertaste, it's more grapefruit bitterness and caramel malts.

I have to say, I'm quite pleased with this. It's nicely balanced and yet is very vibrant in both the nose and the flavor palate. So far, I'm liking what I see from Lakewood Brewing and I'm very eager to see what the other beers taste like!

Lakewood Hop Trapp 9/10