Jester King Biere De Coupage

We're excited to release our 2021 batch of Biere de Coupage! Biere de Coupage is a dry-hopped blend of fresh, hoppy farmhouse ale and mature, barrel-aged SPON. "Biere de Coupage" simply means beer that is cut or blended. We learned about the practice of blending young beer with old from the Franco-Belgian farmhouse tradition, and we adopted it into our beer making about a decade ago. We enjoy seeing how the microflora from the mature SPON takes the young, fresh beer in new and exciting directions.

In this case, we're just now releasing our 2021 batch/blend (originally blended in August 2021). Somewhat expectedly, the blend developed "ropiness". When this happens, the flavors and aromas remain in good shape, but the texture of the beer develops a slickness or viscosity. This phenomenon is attributed to the souring microorganism pediococcus in the blend. The good news is that ropiness goes away on its own after nine to twelve months of aging. In our experience, the beer usually emerges from the ropiness phase in really excellent shape, with some of the most harmonious fermentation characteristics we've experienced. The confluence of fresh dry-hops, mature SPON beer, bottle re-fermentation, and eleven months of patience results in what to us is truly a special beer.

2021 Biere de Coupage is 75% farmhouse ale and 25% SPON. The young beer was brewed with Texas-grown malted barley and wheat and dry hopped with organic Fuggle and Perle from the Oregon Hophouse. The blend was unfiltered, naturally fermented in the bottle, and conditioned for eleven months. 5.9% abv.