Deschutes Jubelale

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

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.

2004 Bottle. Ruby red with a brown head. Malt and hops in good balance. Smooth on the tongue, and smooth going down. Tinge of sweetness. This is just what it wants to be...a great winter ale. 2006 Bottle. Same color as before. Nose of hops and fruit. I have tasted a lot of beers since the first time I rated this. I can only say I still like it. 2008 bottle. Seem like I get this every two years. Same as ever, which is good.

Bottle pours dark cherry, large frothy sand colored head, wonderful lacing, with very light carbonation.   Subtle hop aroma, traces of malt.   Sharp bitterness up front, quickly gives way to a decent balance of roasted malts and hops.   Body and mouthfeel are rather average, at least compared to earlier years.   Subtle malts and hops on the finish... slight sweetness with a bit of biscuit.   yawn....