Deschutes Jubelale

Brewed by Deschutes Brewery
Style: English Strong Ale
Bend, Oregon USA

Ruby to chestnut coloured. Nice foamy cover lasts and sticks to the glass sides. Nutty and distinctive aroma of smoke, peaty and earthy. Excellent balance between the malt and hops ingredients. Spicy winter notes, minty (toothpaste), cinnamon, nutmeg and grapes… Inviting to say the least. Quite warming in mouth despite the relatively low ABV, slightly oily palate, light-medium body, very low carbonation level. Pleasant spiced dark fruits flavours work mysteriously well with the hops where I’d have thought this would bring some undesired astringence. Bready, coniferous and slightly citrusy. No Jubel 2000 deepness, but still one of the best I’ve had from Deschutes, more so than their acclaimed dark beers.

From notes taken at the Southwest Beer Festival in Scottsdale, Arizona. The conditions were hard to take notes in but these are the ratings and they stand. Draft. Rich malty and hoppy aroma. Dark and clear brown in color. Flavor is very malty with a slight alcohol warmth. Malty and lightly hopped finish. Good stuff.

Re-rate: Aroma is full of dark malt and lightly sweetened chocolate with a hint the hops to come. Flavor is caramelly rich and malty but balanced by a decent amount of hop bitterness with hints of that grapefruity hoppiness in the finish. Really nice stuff. The original rating stands.

A very good winter wamer by Deschutes. This brew pours a dark brown color with ruby highlights and presents a pretty nice head. This is a nice warming brew, very good for drinkin’ by the fire during the winter season.

(12 oz bottle: BevMo in La Jolla CA) I’m comparing an aged 2003 bottle of Jubelale with a recently-purchased 2004 bottle just to see how this beer compares and holds up. There’s not much difference. Both are fairly roasty and chocolaty, and moderately sweet and caramely throughout, with a moderately bitter hoppiness elbowing its way to the stage for the finish. The chocolate also really comes out in the finish, and is really delicious. The main difference between the two bottles is the 2003 bottle shows a bit more dominance of sweet and roasty maltiness, and less bitterness in the finish. Sweet, roasty, caramely, and lightly hoppy nose is about what I’d expect based on the flavor of the beer. Full bodied and chewy, mildly carbonated, with a fair amount of depth on the palate and a long-lasting and somewhat bitter finish. The beer is a mahogany color, fully clear and translucent with a medium sized tan head that gradually fades to a thin film, leaving a number of wide rings around the glass that persist long after I’ve finished the beer. When all is said and done, the newer 2004 bottle is just a bit less rounded on the edges, and so I like the smoother, aged 2003 bottle more. Either way, though, you can’t go wrong here. One of the best American winter beers I’ve tasted yet.

A little watery. Dark brown color. The hops were a bit distant. Chewy, bready malts. A little roastiness.

Caramelly and hop nose. Dark mahogany color with a low tight head. Toffee tastes and toasted malt. Dry oaky end. Medium body. Very characterful and overall successful.

Thanks to beeryum. He is a great trader. Poured amber with a foamy thick tan head. As the head settled, it left wonderful lacing. Aroma is quite nice with roasted malts and spruce like hops. This is going somewhere. Different and pleasant taste. Spices and something else ... sour and malty. Being March, this is bringing back the holiday season nicely. This was an excellent winter strong ale. Great.

This is good beer.Its a beautiful Amber Ale with lots of maltiness ,sweet caramel and hop spiciness.What more could you want