Uneasy Rhetoric

Maybe this was true last year too, but I didn’t notice. All of the winter beers are going for a kind of Normal Rockwell/old timey art. I like it, and it gives the winters an air of warmth and class, but not necessarily sophistication.

Deschutes Jubelale is both warm and classy, but not sophisticated. That means I don’t think they’re trying to hard to give it complexity it doesn’t need, but they’ve done enough work to create a deep beer that doesn’t have the harshness or bitterness of a stout but still feels like a rich, dark beer.

Like the Celebration, Jubelale has a fruity, perhaps cidery, smell. It is a deep brown in color, similar to Newcastle Brown. Unlike all of the other winters so far, it pours with some head, and leaves traces behind in the glass. It is a creamy and hoppy beer with a hint of what I think is bitter chocolate but which might be the “roasted” flavor the website suggests.

Ideal parings would be beef or pork roast and a giant heap of garlic mashed potatoes. I probably wouldn’t drink this to wash down a pizza. Well, I would, but it wouldn’t be my first choice.

Jubelale is a “warmer.” Drink it on a cold night by the fire as you might scotch or cognac.

By the way, yes that is a Stella Artois glass. Shhh. Don’t tell anyone.