Deschutes Jubelale Vertical (’07, ‘08, ‘09)

The last couple of years I’ve been doing some (small-scale) cellaring of beer, putting some away each year to save for… well, I haven’t figured out exactly what yet, other than to open up the occasional bottle for special occasions. (In the back of my mind I have an idea that I might have a big beer bash in 2012 for my 40th birthday… get that Mayan calendar nonsense out of your head!)

The majority of beers in my stash are, unsurprisingly, from Deschutes Brewery—a nice side-effect of living in the same town as a good, popular craft brewery. In addition to vintages of The Abyss (I would immediately lose any “beer cred” if I didn’t have this in my “cellar”), I have a bottle of The Dissident, this year’s Mirror Mirror, several bottles each of Red Chair IPA and this year’s Hop Henge (batch #1), and several half-cases of Jubelale, which I started putting away with the 2007 release. Since we’re in a holiday weekend, I thought it was time to break out some bottles and have a vertical tasting.

Jubelale is Deschutes Brewery’s long-running Winter Warmer, brewed for the holidays every year since 1988, and was the first beer Deschutes bottled; early on they bottled it by hand in 750ml bottles, and when Deschutes installed their bottling line, Jubelale was the first of their beers to be packaged in 12-ounce bottles. Jubel, as it’s informally known, is a malty, warming beer generously hopped and teasingly spicy, with 6.7% alcohol by volume.

I don’t know for sure, but I suspect Deschutes tweaks the recipe a bit each year, to keep it fresh and interesting, something akin to what Anchor Brewing does with their Our Special Ale. Regardless, it’s the perfect beer to cellar: a vintaged beer with a high enough alcohol content to keep from spoiling.

Let’s get down to it.

Jubelale 2007: It pours thin and orange-ish brown, and there are actually particulate chunks floating around in it; I suspect sediment stirred up from the bottle, my friend Paul suggested chill haze. It’s thin, more hop-forward, less malty than “fresh” Jubel, with an almost metallic bitterness to it. There’s oxidation with some wet cardboard flavors, but not at all bad (think “sherry”). It gets better as I drink it and it warms up—some fruit opens up with it, like dried fruit being rehydrated. Some alcohol notes—not quite brandy-like, but noticeable. Brown sugar?

Jubelale 2008: More reddish colored than the ‘07. Maltier but not bitter-hoppier than the ‘07, but at the same time it’s got a hoppy “red ale” thing going on. Sweeter than the ‘07, “grainier”, my friend Paul says, “astringent.” Some berry (”sherry”, says Paul again) brighter notes… maybe some apple. As it warms, it seems to get thinner and a bit hoppier, but not as rich as the ‘07.

Jubelale 2009: Great; fresh, spicy, and rich. Showcases more of the up-front maltiness and gingerbread spiciness that’s absent in the previous vintages. It’s a nice mahogany-red brown in color, with a generous head even as the previous two were minimal. Over on my other blog I had written, “spicy and dark like a pumpernickel bread. Solid bittering in the middle—peppery-spicy and a bit earthy and slightly resiny. Some sweet dark caramel and a hint of burnt sugar.” It holds to that and I think this 2009 version is especially good.

Overall: When the 2007 warmed up, it opened up and revealed richer character than the 2008; but the 2008 started out tasting better chilled, with more malty sweetness present. Of course, it’s tough to beat Jubelale when it’s fresh, and the 2009 really shines right now.

But if someone offers you a chance to sample some earlier vintage, jump all over it.

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