Deschutes Jubelale

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

2004. This is the first English Strong Ale I’ve tasted so take this rating with a grain of salt, but this beer is quite flavorful and reminded me of the bitter taste in dark chocolate, minus the chocolate flavor, if that makes any sense at all.

Clear mahogany color with a small tan head. An aroma of caramel and toffee malt along with a touch of pine. Medium bodied with an oily texture. Flavors of caramel and toffee that finish with a gentle hop sensation. Nicely done.

2004 bottle. Gorgeous ruby coloured beer with 1" of lasting foamy head on top. Creamy texture. Warm bready aroma, sweet caramel malts with a light hop spiciness and resin. Also baking spices and a touch of sweet fruitiness. Nice sweet caramel and toffee flavour up front before tasting candied fruit, a nice bready yeast flavour, spice and a long lasting bitter finish. There is also a light toastiness near the end of the finish. This is a great winter warmer.

This wasn’t bad. Dark reddish copper body under a small beige head. The aroma was a nice blend of malt, hops, citrus, pine. Good body. The taste was a rewarding blend of malt and hops. Good robust English ale.

’04 bottle. What a great looking beer! Very dark brown brown/purple body with a dense foamy head that leaves thick lacing. Nutty, flower petal aroma with a caramel background. Overall this is a dry beer. Stout-like with its coffee bean start, but honey doughnuts and molasses help to round it out some. The finish has some hizops, let’s call them "grassily spicy". A pretty good beer in the end. The dry malt and spicy hops work well together, and the dark sweet malts make it into a richer, more satisfying drink.

Thanks to Bück Dich for this one! This is a beautiful beer. Tall, off white head that sits on a clear garnet beer. Lots of caramel and some yeasty notes in the aroma. Smooth body that delivers a lightly sweet nutty brew that has a nice dryness in the finish. I’d like a bit more body, but this is a real nice winter treat. I could drink another.

Ah nuts... Like I have a bowl of nuts in front of me, and this looks most like the color of a filbert. I wistfully smell cardamom among the "pine and spruce," and warm biscuits in a seasoned 12" cast iron skillet. Doink. Jubelale is "characterized by a large malt body balanced with hop bitterness derived from a variety of American and European hops." I don’t know -- that sounds like Santa on a salad diet. The picture I get as I guzzle to buzzle my calabuzza is bit thin: It’s like I live a quarter mile from my nearest neighbor so I focus a telescope on his dining room and see a fat guy sitting at the table eating a box of brach’s chocolate-covered cherries on a wood table decorated with pine boughs. Whooppee, an average "Santamas" beer.

Deep mahigany color with a medium beige head. Spicy malt aroma. Nutmeg, corriander, malt, honey and hops flavors. Slightly dry finish.