While Jester King Brewery has worked with many different types of fruit, it is using a specfic grape for the first time for its newest release.
The new beer is 2016 Bière de Lenoir, a 6.9 percent ABV sour beer refermented with Texas-grown Lenoir grapes, which are an American hybrid breed also known as Black Spanish or El Paso grapes. The ale aged in oak barrels for 8-14 months before being fermented with the grapes sourced from Torre di Pietra Winery in Fredericksburg, Texas.
Jester King now has five different bottled sour beers that incorporate grapes:
- Cerveza de Tempranillo (9.4 percent ABV) utilizing tempranillo wine grapes
- Bière de Merlot (8.5 percent ABV) utilizing Texas-grown merlot grapes
- Bière de Syrah (7.3 percent ABV) utilizing syrah grapes from California
- Bière de Blanc du Bois (6.7 percent ABV) utilizing Texas-grown Blanc du Bois grapes
- Bière de Lenoir (6.9 percent ABV) utilizing Texas-grown Lenoir grapes
According to a post on Jester King’s website, 2016 Bière de Lenoir is packaged in 500ml bottles ($20) and will have a limit of two bottles per person per day when it goes on sale on Feb. 10. There are roughly 1,050 bottles available and it will be a brewery exclusive release.
