Jester King La Vie en Rose
La Vie en Rose is a dry, well attenuated, unspiced Farmhouse Ale refermented with the same raspberries used to make Jester King Atrial Rubicite. Naturally occurring wild yeasts impart a sense of place to this unfiltered, unpasteurized, 100% naturally conditioned beer.
The principle behind La Vie en Rose is to obtain a second extraction of fruit flavor and aroma from the raspberries previously used to make Atrial Rubicite. We noticed that after we made our first batch of Atrial Rubicite, the raspberries still had a lot of nice flavor and aroma. We had also read the following on Brasserie Cantillon’s website, which mentions a second fruit extraction involved in making their Kriek:
“Two barrels of Kriek from the first extraction and two from the second are pumped into a huge barrel. (The second extraction is obtained by filling the barrel for a second time in order to extract as much from the fruits as possible).”
Based on this information, we experimented with aging a pale, medium-strength, farmhouse ale in a stainless steel tank with the raspberries previously used in the refermentation of Atrial Rubicite. Over the course of about two months, the beer picked up color, flavor and aroma from the raspberries, as well as flavor and aroma compounds produced by additional fermentation. As we’ve mentioned before, we’re most interested in fermenting fruit in a manner similar to how grapes become wine, rather than simply adding fruit or fruit flavoring to filtered and/or pasteurized beer. The former technique has the ability to create new and interesting flavors and aromas through the wonderful process of fermentation, whereas the latter is less natural and quite predictable.
The total fermentation time for La Vie en Rose is approximately four months. During the first month, the beer was fermented with our house blend of brewer’s yeasts, Brettanomyces yeasts, naturally occurring wild yeasts native to our land in the Texas Hill Country, and souring bacteria prior to the addition of fruit. It then spent the next two months refermenting with raspberries, followed by a final month refermenting in bottles, kegs and casks. Like everything we brew at Jester King, La Vie en Rose was given lots of time so as to ferment to complete dryness. It finishes at 6.2% alcohol by volume, with a final gravity of 1.000, and a pH of 3.8.
“La Vie en Rose”, which literally translates to “life in pink” is common French colloquial phrase meaning, essentially, life as seen through rose-colored lenses.
The principle behind La Vie en Rose is to obtain a second extraction of fruit flavor and aroma from the raspberries previously used to make Atrial Rubicite. We noticed that after we made our first batch of Atrial Rubicite, the raspberries still had a lot of nice flavor and aroma. We had also read the following on Brasserie Cantillon’s website, which mentions a second fruit extraction involved in making their Kriek:
“Two barrels of Kriek from the first extraction and two from the second are pumped into a huge barrel. (The second extraction is obtained by filling the barrel for a second time in order to extract as much from the fruits as possible).”
Based on this information, we experimented with aging a pale, medium-strength, farmhouse ale in a stainless steel tank with the raspberries previously used in the refermentation of Atrial Rubicite. Over the course of about two months, the beer picked up color, flavor and aroma from the raspberries, as well as flavor and aroma compounds produced by additional fermentation. As we’ve mentioned before, we’re most interested in fermenting fruit in a manner similar to how grapes become wine, rather than simply adding fruit or fruit flavoring to filtered and/or pasteurized beer. The former technique has the ability to create new and interesting flavors and aromas through the wonderful process of fermentation, whereas the latter is less natural and quite predictable.
The total fermentation time for La Vie en Rose is approximately four months. During the first month, the beer was fermented with our house blend of brewer’s yeasts, Brettanomyces yeasts, naturally occurring wild yeasts native to our land in the Texas Hill Country, and souring bacteria prior to the addition of fruit. It then spent the next two months refermenting with raspberries, followed by a final month refermenting in bottles, kegs and casks. Like everything we brew at Jester King, La Vie en Rose was given lots of time so as to ferment to complete dryness. It finishes at 6.2% alcohol by volume, with a final gravity of 1.000, and a pH of 3.8.
“La Vie en Rose”, which literally translates to “life in pink” is common French colloquial phrase meaning, essentially, life as seen through rose-colored lenses.
3.8
164 reviews
Austin, United States
Community reviews
750 ml bottle into signature tulip glass; Batch #6, bottled in 6/2017. Pours slightly hazy/cloudy deep golden amber color with a 1-2 finger fairly dense and fluffy light pink head with great retention, that reduces to a small cap that lingers. Nice dense spotty soapy lacing clings on the glass, with a moderate amount of streaming carbonation. Aromas of big sour/tart/tangy red raspberries, fruit skin/seeds, lemon, lime, peach, plum, pear, apricot, melon, red/green apple, white grape/wine, oak, peppercorn, hay, straw, grass, wheat, cracker, and white bread; with lighter notes of leathery/musty/lacto funk, red wine vinegar, and yeast/oak earthiness. Damn nice aromas with great balance and complexity of raspberries, fruity/funky/acidic/spicy yeast, wine barrels, and moderate oat/pale/wheat malt notes; with big strength. Taste of big sour/tart/tangy red raspberries, fruit skin/seeds, lemon, lime, peach, plum, pear, apricot, melon, red/green apple, white grape/wine, oak, peppercorn, hay, straw, grass, wheat, cracker, and white bread; with lighter notes of leathery/musty/lacto funk, red wine vinegar, and yeast/oak earthiness. Light-moderate fruity/lactic tart/sourness, fruit tang, and yeast/oak tannin spiciness on the finish. Lingering notes of sour/tart/tangy red raspberries, fruit skin/seeds, lemon, lime, peach, plum, pear, apricot, melon, red/green apple, white grape/wine, oak, peppercorn, hay, straw, grass, wheat, cracker, white bread, leathery/musty/lacto funk, red wine vinegar, and yeast/oak earthiness on the finish for a good bit. Fantastic complexity, robustness, and balance of raspberries, fruity/funky/acidic/spicy yeast, wine barrels, and moderate oat/pale/wheat malt flavors; with a great malt/tart/sourness, tangy fruit, and yeast/oak spiciness balance; with no puckering/astringent flavors after the finish. Fairly crisp finishing. Moderate increasing dryness from lingering tart/sourness, tangy fruit, yeast/oak spiciness, and carbonation after the finish. Medium-plus carbonation and light-medium body; with a very smooth and moderately grainy/acidic/tangy/tannic balanced mouthfeel that is great. Minimal warming alcohol for 5.8%. Overall this is a fantastic fruited sour/wild ale. All around fantastic complexity, robustness, and balance of raspberries, fruity/funky/acidic/spicy yeast, wine barrels, and moderate oat/pale/wheat malt flavors; very smooth, easy, and fairly crisp to drink with the moderately acidic/tangy/tannic/drying finish; not overly lactic/tannic. Fantastic balance of big juicy/jammy raspberries, and Brett/Bacteria complexity; with great wine barrel presence, and pale/oat/wheat malts against acidity. Minimal residual sweetness with crisp acidic/tangy drying. A highly enjoyable offering, and outstanding style example. Aged wonderfully as expected.
750ml bottle, 2018 vintage. Tart raspberry aroma with notes of cherry, lacto and some Bretty funk. Pours clear red colored with a half a finger of reddish, off white head that has excellent retention and lacing. Starts with tart raspberry and cherry flavors as well as having a lively mouthfeel. Finishes dry and quite smooth with lacto and Bretty funk flavors joining the raspberry sweetness. Another nice sour from Jester King.
Tap at Port Street Beer House. Raspberry tart and lactic aroma. Hazy pink color with minimal sized white head. Sour and tart taste, bit sweet from raspberries. Thin body, soft to average carbonation. Nice but really gentle.
750 ml bottle shared at Craftheads in Tokyo, Japan. Thanks Jon! Clear pinkish red, off-white head. Smell-berry. Taste-tart berry. Light body. This rating not sponsored by ZX Ventures or AB Inbev.
Draft at Salud. Slightly hazy pinkish red color light pink head. Floral aroma. Taste has soft sourness, dry rose wine. My favorite Jester King offering of the night.
Backlog. MBCC 2018. Pours hazy orangey red with a small white head. Aromas of minerals, cherries, yoghurt. Taste has cherries, lactic acidity, tannins, citrus, lemon.
750 ml bottle. Aroma is raspberry, vanilla. Pours slightly hazy ruby reddish-orange with a one finger pinkish-white head with good retention. Taste is mild to moderately sour (6/10), with flavors of raspberry, vanilla, Kool-Aid, wild yeast. A bit thin and watery mouthfeel. Smells better than it tastes, although it is really tasty. Good stuff.
How: Draught.
Where: MBCC 2018.
Appearance: Orange colour with a small off-white head.
Aroma: Citrus, fruit, sour, tart.
Body: Medium body and carbonation.
Flavour: Fruit, sour, tart, a bit acidic.
On tap at MBCC 2018. Batch 6. Pours hazy orange with white head. Fruity, raspberries, funk, some wood. Yeasty. Medium+ acidity. Medium bodied.
@Biercafé Au Trappiste - pours a pinkish-red beer; clean and deep aroma of bretts and raspberries; tasty, lively and solidly sour; very dry before a long sour finish of raspberries, lemon and currants - beautiful
Sample at Mikkeller Beer Celebration Copenhagen 2018, Blue Session. Pinkish orange color. Aroma has tart fruits, mostly unripe berries. Taste follows with astringent berry seeds and light earthy bitterness on the finish.
duft funk lime kant stald svampet
smag tør citrus lime mandarin frugtig fersken lidt tør
From tap at MBCC18. It pours hazy peach like orange with no head. The aroma is raspberries and light acid. The flavor is mild raspberry with good funk and acid.
Tap at MBCC blue. Aroma of citrus hay barnyard, light lactic and cherries. Light Sweet and moderate Tart Sour. Good
Tap at MBCC 18. Hazy orange body with a small white head. Raspberries, yeast, tartness, funk, smooth. Lovely.
Hazy orange. Aroma is flowers, pine and barnyard. Taste is pineapple, mango and lime
Tap. Pours light red with white head. Aroma of raspberry, raspberry Stones, funky and Brett. Good fruit, wood, tart dry. Balanced and good funk.
Tap @ mbcc 2018.
Light red color, pinkish head.
Raspberries, lacto tartness/sourness.
Tart red berry flavor. Crisp.
Tap at MBCC2018, Copenhagen. Color is cloudy red with small white head. Aromas and flavors: Tartness, berries, fruits and some sourness.
Draft H & P Sour, Wild, and Fruited Fest 2016 4-23-16
Rerate: prev 4.3
750ml bottle (thx, Carlos S.!) shared with Jamey and Brad. Batch #6, June 2017. Pours a clear rose-ish golden with a white head. Aroma is funky and berries. Taste is tart, moderate to high acidic with funky and some raspberry notes. Good, but not enough berries in it because of the second berries extraction.
Shared at Superbowl party 2017. Orange like in color with pink hues and fruit and tartness.
Near clear pink amber pour with a white head that fades down to a ring. Nice lacing. Aroma is raspberry, grain, funky, and earthy. Taste is very tart raspberry, wood, earthy funk, tannic, and lightly herbal. Finishes very dry. Puckering tartness. Light body.
Thanks James for sharing the bottle! Poured into a tulip glass showing lightly filtered tomato red with no head.
The nose shows tomato cherry with a light raspberry forwardness.
The palate is light bodied and well carbonated. Highly tart with flavours of light raspberry and moderately intense tomato. Highly acidic throughout but it works.
02.05.2014, tap @ CBC:
Small fizzy shortlasting head. Aroma is slightly sour-ish fruity, raspberries, grain, flowers, herbs, sugar, raw rhubarb. Taste is slightly acidic sour, sorrel, grain, dry sour raspberries, raw rhubarb, hay, soda powder. Medium bitterness, slightly dry acidic mouthfeel. Nice one.
Bottle shared "hannont". Colour...slightly cloudy red rose with no head. Nose...crisp, bright raspberry with hints of rose hips and yeast. Palate...fresh, tangy and lively with freshly crushed underripe raspberries and light notes of gooseberries and quince. The finish is long and pippy.
Bottle courtesy of a trade ages ago. Pours a yellow-orange with pink highlights and a white head. Nose is mild berry, some funk, light wheat, grain, and a hint of pepper. Flavor is similar with a light funk, mild berry throughout the flavor profile, and a slight estery presence. Light in body and perfect on an 80 degree summer day.
Nice raspberry smell with a bit of plastic. Taste is the same with a pleasant tartness and sourness. Medium body, light carbonation, and no foam.
750 ml bottle shared with Tmoney99 and others courtesy of Errl from notes. Pours a hazy orange amber color with a small off white head. The aroma and flavor have tart berries, raspberry, pale wheat like malts, funk, some acidity, citrus, hay, very enjoyable beer.
Bottle shared by alexsdad06. Poured clear reddish amber color with an average fizzy off-white head that was mostly lasting with fair lacing. Moderate to heavy complex tart berry aroma. Medium to abundant body with a smooth texture and soft carbonation. Medium to heavy tart & sour flavor with a medium sour & tart finish of moderate to long duration. Solid beer.