Price
Meter
High!
Why is it that Jailhouse beers are so hard to get in there home state of Georgia? Beats me. I hope it’s because they’re selling so well. I was chasing down bottles of their Conjugal Visit Imperial Red Ale not long ago, and even the distributor couldn’t help me find any. To be fair, the specialty beers in bomber bottles seem to be the hardest find these days, and I’m seeing the six-packs of the year round beers in more places.
Still, I haven’t seen any new specialty bombers since I picked up Jailhouse Ditch Digger Brown last fall. It’s been sitting safe in my beer fridge since then, and I decided to pop it tonight. This is the second in Jailhouse’s new Inmate Hooch Series, and these are employee-created beers (the inmates running the asylum if you will). The first release in the series was Prison Camp Pils, which of course I was never able to find.
Jailhouse has the following to say about Ditch Digger Brown Ale:
The second round of the Inmate Hooch Series, Ditch Digger Brown, is a good season transitioning beer. Full flavored enough to tame the coming of cold weather, but light enough to quench your thirst after a day digging ditches. Rich brown in color with a light caramel and dark fruit aroma. Light bodied with notes of dark chocolate and a slight roast-coffee finish.
Jailhouse Ditch Digger Brown has an alcohol content of 5% by volume. I paid $8.99 for my 22-ounce bomber bottle.
Jailhouse Ditch Digger Brown pours to a medium brownish color with a thick creamy tan head and a luscious soft malty cookie nose. Taking a sip, the beer has a wonderful malt base: its fresh nutty malty, slightly cookie-ish, chocolaty, and hints at molasses and again toasted nuts. All that is balanced in the finish by an ever so gentle hoppiness, but really the malts steal the show here. And I love that, in a day when hops are all the rage.
My one quibble is the price, at $8.99 that is high for a 5% brown ale. $6.99 would be more realistic. Would I buy this delightful English-style brown ale again? Not at that price, no. But if it were re-released in six packs for $8.99 to $9.99, or sold on tap I’d be all over it.
And remember, try a new beer today, and drink outside the box.
*Pricing data accurate at time of review or latest update. For reference only, based on actual price paid by reviewer.
(B)=Bottled
(D)=Draft