Deschutes Jubel 2010

Formerly brewed at Deschutes Brewery
Style: American Strong Ale
Bend, Oregon USA

Serve in Snifter, Trappist glass

A solid pour into my Lost Abbey Teku glass produces an initially three-finger thick, pale-brown / amber tinged, tan colored head. The head leaves some nice, open lacing patterns on the sides of my glass as it subsides. The beer is a dark, concentrated amber-brown color that shows a brilliantly clear, cranberry-juice-red hue when held up to the light. The aroma has a rich, sweet, but complex, concentrated malt character to it that almost approaches a savory quality. Deeply rich, brown bread, toasty grain aromatics also play a dominant role here. The sweet, deeply caramelized malt notes that are found here in the nose almost have a red-wine and oak like character to it; in fact, the red wine character seems to be where most of the sweetness is coming from. The deeply caramelized, Maillard rich brown maltiness is really what dominates the nose though. There is a lot of toasted character to this beer, it is not just malt though, after recognizing it in the flavor, the oak also contributes to the toasted character in the aroma as well.

As the beer first hits my palate it is not that sweet, it has more of a toasted, brown grain character to it, but it does pick up some rich sweetness as it rolls across the palate. The finish has a bitterness / astringency to it that seems a mix of alcohol, hops and dark malt; it even gets a touch more aggressively, almost harshly bitter than I was expecting. Rich, brown bread flavors, mix with brown caramelized malt, a husky whole grain quality, and even some brown cracker like notes; there is a fair amount of almost spicy, whole grain character that usually is contributed by caramelized malts. Ah, I just got it, this beer has been oaked, which explain the astringency and alcohol enhancing spiciness that is in the finish. The oak also contributes a toasted character to it as well as a touch of woody-oak flavors. As the beer warms up a soft fruitiness really becomes more noticeable, this contributes notes of berry like red wine, some concentrated current notes and even some fresh, dark skinned, tannic, red wine grape fruit flavors. There is an almost roasted quality to this beer that seems to be brought out by the toasty malt and the toasted oak character. As the beer warms up it gets less harsh, and quite a bit smoother in the finish. The body is certainly rich and viscous, though I wouldn’t call it overly heavy or anything near cloying (this assumes you were expecting a rich beer to begin with though); this is most definitely a sipping brew, but finishing off this bottle over a slow, long evening is not a chore. There is something about the alcohol and a certain smoothness to the malt character (especially as this warms up significantly) that reminds me of a huge Bock; it isn’t nearly as simplistic as young Samichlause (as there is a lot more complex, toasted, malt character here).

This is quite a bit tastier than I was expecting, for some reason I was resisting cracking this beer open since its release. I don’t know how much it has changed since it was younger, but it certainly hasn’t picked up any noticeable oxidation yet; I can see this ageing quite well, and even doing well with some oxidation.

Friends brought this one over - split the 22oz with them. Poured a dark red clear color with a small off-white head. Aroma was dark fruits, touch of rum, toffee. Flavor was those same dried fruits, cherries, rum. Interesting.

(Bottle) Pours light hazy dark mahogany brown with red highlight. Creamy nougat coloured head. The aroma hold concentrated caramel alongside wood spicy and vanilla-driven oak. Undertones of almond paste, woodsy/earthy hops and glue. A whisper of alcohol and dark fruits. Oak and malt plays well with each other. The flavour is near medium sweet, medium bitter and light sourish. Caramel, oak, earth, dark fruits and light metallic hop tone on the finish. The mouthfeel is round and sticky with a light carbonation. Caramelly and earthy finish. Near full bodied.

Bottle pours dark caramel/cola color with thin bubbly tan head. Aroma raisins, molasses. Flavor slightly sweet with caramel malts, slight dark fruits, toffee, slight oak. Alcohol moderately apparent. Finish mainly a continuation of the flavor with slight brief bitterness. Palate full, fairly thick and a bit sticky.

22oz bottle. Pours out a darker caramel hue, decent head and lacing. Aromas are a bit odd, somewhat sherry like, which made me think that it might be over the hill. Let this one warm up and open up too as right away it is a bit boozy and disjointed. Nice smooth palate, the wine barrel aging really helps this as it goes down. Not my favorite reserve series beer, but decent.

22 ounce bomber. 2nd time I have had this this week. This beer is one of the richest, desert beers I have had. Loaded with dark stone fruits, dried cherries, rum/port tones, just a deep rich malty beer. This beer is best shared with a group of friends in the winter.

650ml bottle pours a cloudy brown color with a finger and a half of beige head which leaves some spotted lacing on the glass. Aroma is dark fruits with some caramel and piney hops with a bit of alcohol. Taste is light roasted malty bitterness with some dark fruit sweetness and a touch of caramel as well as a piney hoppy bitterness. Heavy body and light carbonation. This was a truly enjoyable tasting experience.

Bottle. Pours a clear dark red with a white head. Smells of dark red berries, and caramel malts. Tastes somewhat tart with a medium sweetness. Full bodied. Texture is creamy, but with some syrupy qualities. Finishes cloying. Almost excellent, but the tartness and cloying finish make it seem like a mistake.