When our tasting room opens at Noon on Saturday, December 26th, we’ll be releasing our second ever blend of Cerveza de Tempranillo — our barrel-aged farmhouse ale refermented with Texas-grown Tempranillo grapes. It has been quite some time since we last released Cerveza de Tempranillo. Blend 1 came out in February of 2014.
As we seek to do with all our fruit refermentations, the goal is to ferment the grapes with mature, barrel-aged beer, so as to create aromas and flavors greater than the sum of their parts. For instance, think about the difference between grape juice and wine. Why does the latter have much more complexity than the former? It is because the grape juice has been fermented by microorganisms to create a host of new flavors and aromas. We apply this same principle to the use of fruit in our beer. We referment fruit with beer to create something that had previously not existed. To us, this is more interesting and enjoyable than adding fruit or fruit flavoring to filtered, pasteurized beer, thus creating what is effectively is a beer cooler. This, in our opinion, is one plus one equals two, rather than creating something greater than the sum of the parts.
There are a few differences between blend 1 and blend 2. We’re happy about the fact that the grapes in blend 2 came from Texas, as opposed to California. Not that the California grapes aren’t good, but we prefer to embrace the characteristics we get from Texas microflora and soil, so as to make beer with a sense of place. The alcohol content of blend 2 is slightly lower (7.2% alcohol by volume versus 9.4%), which we believe is due to the Texas grapes having a lower sugar content. Finally, we refermented the grapes with mature beer in stainless steel, as opposed to oak. We wanted a little more control over the fruit refermentation, so as to avoid the development of acetic acid (think vinegar).
Cerveza de Tempranillo blend 2 was brewed with malted barley, malted wheat, raw wheat, oats, and hops. It was fermented with our unique mixed culture of brewers yeast and native yeast and bacteria harvested from the air and land around our brewery. After an initial primary fermentation in either a stainless steel tank or a foudre, it was racked to oak barrels for extended maturation and fermentation. It was then refermented with Tempranillo grapes for about a month, then 100% refermented in bottles, kegs, and casks over the course of another month.
Our tasting room will be closed on Friday, December 25th. When we open the following day — Saturday, December 26th at Noon — we’ll release Cerveza de Tempranillo. About 3,000 bottles (500ml/$16) will be available with a bottle limit of two per customer per day. It will also be available by the glass at our tasting room. Aside from special events, Cerveza de Tempranillo blend 2 will only be available at Jester King.
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