Well, that was a surprise. There I was at my local Taco Mac here in Canton, celebrating the birthday of legendary beer writer Michael Jackson, when I discovered that the beer I was drinking really wasn’t really the beer that I thought I was drinking after all. You see, while I thought I was enjoying a Jailhouse Conjugal Visit Ale, an amber/red ale of 6% alcohol by volume, I found out that I instead was drinking Jailhouse Conjugal Visit Imperial Red Ale, this year’s batch ramped up to 8% alcohol by volume.

The beer did seem bigger to me than it has been in the past. The draft menu at Taco Mac had listed the brew as 6%, though, and hadn’t updated for 2014. Ah well. I’m not complaining. Back to the Beer Hunter for a moment, though, and why I chose this beer from Jailhouse to toast him. Jackson visited more breweries than anyone else in the world I dare say. Many of them were in some strange places. In that spirit, I submit for your approval Jailhouse Conjugal Visit Imperial Red Ale. Local beer, brewed in a former jailhouse. Jackson would have loved it.

Conjugal Visit Imperial Red Ale is a seasonal available from January to March now, according to the brewery website. It’s part of the limited release “Trustees Series” of brews. Jailhouse only says this about it on their website:

Juicy and full of the titilating hop aroma. Caramel sweetness balanced with a plethora of piney resinous hop bitterness.

I haven’t seen this in bottles yet for 2014, but I will be sure to snap some up when I do. This is one of those odd beers, though, that actually costs more to buy in the bottle than it does on draft. I shelled out just $6 for a full 20-ounce mugs of this beauty at Taco Mac. In the past, it’s run $7.99 for a 22 ounce bottle.

My mug of Jailhouse Conjugal Visit arrived a rich amber-red color with a thick creamy head and an irresistible smack of soft toffee in the nose. Taking a sip, I get absolutely luscious caramel and candy apple notes in the palate, and more-this beer is just packed with juicy stewed malt flavor. That’s apropos for another reason because I had no idea what "stewed malt" flavors were when I first read MJ describe them back in the eighties. After trying a few of the beers he referenced-I knew. Oh and back to the beer, all those delicious stewed malts and candied fruit are balanced perfectly with a sharp grassy hop finish (more than resiny to me).

What a delightful beer! As I said, I’ll be looking for it in the bottle-one to save for a while, and one to share in a beer trade, I think. Was that MJ up there smiling from above and surprising me with this new and improved version of Conjugal Visit? It might well have been.

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