An organic review: Jester King Brewing Co.'s Wytchmaker Rye IPA

You may recall an earlier post of mine describing a recent trip to Austin.  On this trip I purchased a bottle of JesterKing Brewing Co.’s Wytchmaker Rye IPA.  As excited as I was to try something from these guys, it took me a long time to get around to reviewing it.  In fact, there were a couple of times where I just picked up my bottle and stared at it, but didn’t feel ready to open it up.  My timing was off or something.  My first time going over the bottle, I noticed something interesting.

Wytchmaker is made with 80% organic ingredients and is brewed with harvested rainwater.  They do this as a commitment to sustainability and the slow food movement.  Personally, I’m skeptical about organic foods.  A lot of companies are piggybacking off the recent wave of organic success, and labeling ‘organic’ or ‘natural’ has become a very profitable marketing tool.  As seen in Anat Baron’s movie, Beer Wars, giants like InBev are creating new products labeled as organic to capture a new niche.  I hardly believe these companies are worried about sustainability, they’re just exploiting a new modern idea.

Big fat phonies

Jester King, however, is different.  They are making a personal choice to brew with organic ingredients.  As a small brewery input costs must be staggering, because you can’t afford volume discounts that other macrobreweries enjoy, but Jester King is still making the conscious decision to pay higher prices for what they feel will let them make a higher quality brew.  Like I said earlier, I’m not really jumping on the organic bandwagon, but I still respect Jester King and others like them, for not cutting corners and brewing however they want to brew.

Even the brewery looks organic

Bewytching

My bottle of Wytchmaker poured a powerful 4 finger white head, which I wasn’t expecting at all.  The beer was mildly hazy, with a rusty copper color.  This beer had an extremely interesting bouquet.  The predominant smell of piney hops was also met with thyme, clove, a floral perfume-like smell, and a tiny bit of yeast smell to finish.  This beer had some similar flavors, but it was a tad more balanced than the aroma.  The strongest flavors are that of dry rye bread paired with a strong hop presence.  The hops added a lot of piney qualities, as well as some juniper flavor similar to gin, and a small amount of citrus fruit.  The fungal yeast taste strengthened as I neared the bottom of the bottle because I was getting more yeast sediment per pour.  If you don’t want yeast in your beer, be very gentle when serving this brew.  

I’d rate Jester King Brewing Co.’s Wytchmaker Rye IPA 4.5 out of 5.  This beer was very complex, very tasty.  I’d say this is one of the best IPAs I’ve ever had, one of the more balanced also.  One aspect of the brew I could have done away with was the juniper flavor, that’s one flavor I have never enjoyed.  That’s also why I never choose to drink gin.  Maybe it’s just because I hate looking at Ashe Juniper trees.  Those resinous junk scrubs have littered the Texas plains and they’re too dangerous for us to let burn down.  I say they’re nasty and we could stand to lose a few.

Can't play football in this backyard...