We are pleased to announce our latest beer — Jester King Nocturn Chrysalis. Back in June, we added Kiowa blackberries from Oglesby, Texas to oak barrels containing mature sour red ale. We then allowed the blackberries to referment to dryness in the presence of a multitude of microorganisms, including naturally occurring wild yeast harvested from our land in the Texas Hill Country.
The blackberry refermentation involved a traditional wine making practice called a “punch down”. As the blackberries referment, they rise to the top of the oak barrel to form a cap. Several times a day we punched down the cap with a stainless steel mashing tool to break it up. This procedure was important to achieve good flavor and color extraction from the blackberries and to prevent the cap from drying up and becoming oxidized, which can lead to unwanted growth of acetobacter. Acetobacter, while harmless to consume, creates vinegary flavors and aromas that we dislike very much in beer. Punch downs and temperature control in our barrel room were important parts of our effort to keep acetobacter at bay.
Texas Kiowa Blackberries refermenting in an oak barrel with mature sour red ale
After the “punch down” phase was complete, we racked the beer off of the fruit into oak barrels to allow it to continue to referment. Once the beer was mature, it was blended and naturally conditioned through another refermentation in the bottle.
Nocturn Chrysalis is 7.1% alcohol by volume, has a finishing gravity of 1.004, and is 3.2 pH. It is made from Hill Country well water, organic malted barely, organic malted wheat, hops, Farmhouse yeast, Brettanomyces yeast, souring bacteria, naturally occurring wild yeast from the Texas Hill Country, and Kiowa blackberries from Oglesby, Texas. Like all of our beers, it is unfiltered, unpasteurized, and 100% naturally conditioned.
Jester King Nocturn Chrysalis
Nocturn Chrysalis was packaged exclusively in 500ml bottles. It will be released at our 3rd Annual Funk n’ Sour Fest at Jester King on Sunday, October 27th during Austin Beer Week. More details regarding the release will follow. We will begin selling tickets to our Funk n’ Sour Fest in early October.
The label artwork for Nocturn Chrysalis pictured above was created by Josh Cockrell of Jester King. Here’s a quote from Josh regarding the etymology of the name:
“The first chapter (Atrial Rubicite) left us with the physical image of change, the gruesome and beautiful visceral nature of it. This gave us cause to look towards the spiritual world for parallels, to give meaning and context to the concept of change. And so in the the last chapter (Omniscience & Proselytism) we gained a certain vision, a spiritual omniscience. The ability to see into the spiritual world, to see its inner working and the details of the occult and religion. But in the core of these things we have found the deepest darkness and have become enveloped in its depths. What prayer exists to save us from such a darkness?
The darkness itself is part of that hope. It gives a context to light. So, just as soon as one reaches the peak of darkness one has already begun the shift back towards light, towards daybreak. The chrysalis of darkness breaks as the first sliver of light falls upon it, and we are let free to explore the receding tide of darkness, not as prisoners of it, but as beings birthed out of it. Is it not the constant change in balance of darkness and lightness that give rise to vision itself? What understanding can truly be had without first giving context to knowledge? Nocturn Chrysalis — the body of change and answer to the deliverance from darkness.”
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