Cherries Jubelale
Deschutes Brewery

12 oz bottle poured into a standard pint glass. Packaged on 10-18-23, so nearly two years ago. It has aged wonderfully. Purchased August 2025 in a 4-pk at Deschutes Brewery tasting room, Bend, Oregon. Haven’t seen it at retail outlets in awhile. It would be quite a coup to snag a few packs now for the impending fall season 2025 / winter 2025/26.

Nice melding of hops and cherry to produce a complex and very agreeable taste, including a tart-boozy finish.

Has a satisfying Old Ale mouthfeel. An excellent sipper.

Pours a medium, hazy brown with a light head that disappears quickly. Aroma is bourbon first with cherries mixed in. Some wood can also be detected. Taste is hops forward, with a light fruit, cherry, taste and a bit of brown sugar. The taste ends more bitter than sweet. Mouthfeel is moderately based with very good carbonation. Overall, good.

Cherries Jubelale – from Deschutes Brewery. Acquired from @muchloveforhops3 in BSBIF #1. Reviewed 14/01/24 (Review 3219). 12 oz bottle. Note that I use DD/MM/YY protocol.
“PACKAGED ON 10/21/21” on the end of the label. Stored at 34 degrees at home. Served at 53.7 degrees F in a hand washed and dried Jester King snifter. The final temperature was 5 degrees F.
Appearance – 3.5.
First pour – Medium Amber (SRM 12), clear.
Body – Amber Brown (SRM 18), opaque. Under direct light, same. When rear-lite, light penetration at the edges, amber.
Head - Average (Maximum one cm, aggressive center pour), wheat, high density, average retention, dropping to a 0.15 cm crown, and a thin partial cap.
Lacing – None.
Aroma – 4.25 – Cherries with some vanilla spiciness at the end. No yeast, no hops, no alcohol (9.2 % ABV as marked on the label).
Flavor – 4.25 – Begins with cherries. No yeast, no hops, no barrels, no vanilla. No dimethylsulfide or diacetyl. No ethanol ever tasted. Mild gastric warming. Ends slightly bitter.
Palate – 4 – Medium; viscosity edges it into syrupy territory; soft carbonation.
Final impression and summation: 4 Looks basically like every other winter warmer I’ve tried. Aroma and flavor favor cherries, my favorite non-citrus fruit to be added to a beer. This is slightly on the syrupy side but doesn’t approach cough syrup. The promised barrel and vanilla flavors are very difficult to detect. In general, a decent cherry-based winter warmer. Thanks Doug!

Received a bottle on 10-25-23 courtesy of @muchloveofhops3, thanks Doug! Bottled 10-09-22; consumed 12-25-23.

Beer poured burgundy-brown with a very nice off white head.

Nose is very nice as the cherry and vanilla adjuncts blend nicely with the bourbon barrel.

Taste is a toasted malt base that is enhanced with citrus hopping in which i am getting some orange. Finishes with a touch of bourbon and a fair amount of vanilla and cherry leading to a semi puckering and sweet finish but not cloyingly so.

Mouthfeel is medium bodied and smooth.

Overall a fun beer to try! Jubelale was long a favorite Holiday beer while living in PHX.

 

Bottled on: 11-09-22
Many thanks to muchloveforhops3 for this bottle.

A - Deep burgundy pour with soapy, sticky cherry pink lacing resting on top and sticking to the sides of the glass.

S - Nice blend between caramel malt and cherry with a delicate "after whiff" of Bourbon.

T - Cherry, ever so light malt base, Bourbon, and vanilla as an after thought. Ends on the sweeter side.

M - Big medium body with a small amount of warming in the back of the throat with a wet finish.

O - This is a really nice sipper.

Pours opaque, dark copper in color with one quarter inch head. Taste is cherry, caramel, toffee and slight barrel. Heavy body, low carbonation, sweet. Wow is this good. Not close to cloying but all sorts of flavor. This is a wow beer.

1878
Name: Cherries Jubelale
Brewery: Deschutes Brewery
Location: Bend, OR
Style: Barreled-Aged Winter Warmer
ABV: 9.1%
Date: 11/09/2022
One of my favorite seasonal beers is Jubelale. When I learned they had this, I had to try it. I bought a six-pack, and it was interesting. Using a pint glass, I served the beer at 44 degrees. The pour created a frothy and creamy light tan two-fingered head. The retention is above average, slowly dissipating, leaving chunks of lacing on the glass. Charting the color around SRM 20, dark brown with ruby hues. The beer is opaque, with bubbles on the side. The appearance of the beer is above average.
Nosing the glass, I smell cherries, vanilla, baking spices, toasted malts, bready, caramel, molasses, oak, char, whiskey, and floral esters. The aromas are lovely and inviting.
However, the taste takes an entirely different route. I taste whiskey, oak, smoke, char, Maillard, baking spices, cherries, vanilla, toasted bread crust, caramel, molasses, earthiness, citrus, floral, and raisins.
The mouthfeel is creamy and slightly dry. The body is medium, has a medium-light carbonation, and has an intriguing finish.
My biggest hiccup with this beer is it tastes like cough syrup. It has those beautiful aromas, and the flavors come through with heavy cherries followed by the winter warmer. It disappointed me, considering this my annual beer of choice but not with cherries, vanilla, and barrel-aged.

Poured into a Gulden Draak tulip. Pours a dark, slightly brownish red with a fine, two finger khaki head with great retention and solid lacing. Aroma of lightly caramel and biscuit malt, cherries and a hint of vanilla. Flavor is bready and lightly biscuit malt, pie cherries, hints of dates, raisins and vanilla; dries out a bit in the finish with a mild bitterness that seems to be spices rather than hops. Medium bodied with light to moderate creaminess. This winter warmer delivers on the cherries, which are more like slightly sweet pie than sweet fresh cherries. The classic Jubelale malt base is there somewhere, but subsumed into the cherry flavor, as is the vanilla. Faint winter spicing, mostly in the spice bitterness in the finish. While most of the flavor nuance is under the cherry notes, there are interesting winter warmer spices and fleeting barrel character to keep things interesting. Festive and looks great.

12 oz. Bottle
Barrel-Aged
Bottled Conditioned
PACKAGED ON: 11/09/22

Poured into a tulip a very nice dark brown/black color, with some very nice carbonation, with a very nice thick/creamy one-finger plus tan head, which also leaves a very nice medium-sized island and some pretty nice sticky lacing behind. The nose is very nice, malty, hoppy, with a very nice dark fruit complex (cherries, figs, raisins, grapes, plums, prunes) very nice touch of chocolate/toffee, bourbon, oak, vanilla, licorice. The taste is very nice, with a very nice dark fruit complex (cherries, figs, raisins, grapes, plums, prunes), very nice chocolate/toffee, bourbon, oak, vanilla, licorice, with a very nice sweetness. Medium Body, ABV is hidden very nicely, with a very nice sweetness, a pretty nice complex brew, a nice sipper, but very drinkable, with a slight dry/bitter finish. Overall, this is a very tasty brew. Glad to see it around.

Meh

I love cherries. I love vanilla. I love Jubelale.

But, better to enjoy these separately. This is as close to a drain pour as I can recall from Deschutes. Though nice to discover this imbibing a 12 ounce bottle instead of a larger bottle.

Disappointing.

I sampled some of this @ Cincinnati Beerfest earlier this month. To me, it tasted like cherry cough medicine, which I don't like.

 

I really enjoyed this version of their annual winter warmer. You get the spices and the vanilla up front, and then the cherries really kick in on the back end. It's an easy drink, not overly sweet thanks to the traditional base beer, but the fruit really adds a new note to it. Well done, Deschutes.

Look: Pours a dark, deep ruby red with a thin beige head.

Smell: Definitely getting the cherries. Also hints of vanilla, molasses, and malts. There is a nice sugary sweetness to the smell that makes it especially pleasant.

Taste: Cherries dominate the mouth on this, I’m not getting as much of the vanilla and other spices but they’re still there.

Feel: Medium feel, as others have noted there is a nice softness to this one.

Overall: I really enjoyed this one. If I had any critique I’d say I wish there was a bit more vanilla so that the cherries didn’t dominate so much, but nonetheless this is a really nice winter warmer.

 

 

In broad terms, the barrel and vanilla are muted to my palate, though I’m not too upset about the latter, but the way the cherries integrate into this beer easily make up for this.

Ruby-brown with a sneaky beige head/ring. Nose has a brown bread - nearing pumpernickel, with a lightly tart but prominent cherry scent that is enticing. Taste follows, but with a bitterness that turns the bread a bit more earthy.

I like the cherry addition to the base warmer. I’m not too disappointed in missing a stronger barrel influence, but I could see others being so if their experience is similar to mine.

Bottled on 11-9-22. 12oz bottle poured into a tulip.

Pours mahogany with ruby hues; creamy and fluffy khaki head that falls leaving nice bubbly retention and sticky lacing. Great color.

The aromas have a nice subtle blend of cherries and cocoa leading the way, especially the cherries. Malts are there.

The flavors follow the nose. It basically tastes just like it smells. The flavors have the cherries shining without dominating. There's a nice amount of chocolate coming through. Some vanilla and toffee. Hints of caramel in the mix as well. Mild spice. The bourbon is subtle but definitely noticeable. Some wine characteristics. Subtle sweetness with a lower bitterness. Strong malt backbone. Finishes slightly warm but the alcohol is well hidden. This one is dangerously drinkable.

Mouthfeel is nice. It's on the lighter side of full-bodied with moderate carbonation. It's soft, fluffy and smooth.

This is a solid brew. It's interesting because one second I'm really digging it and the next minute it's not working for me. There's an odd "band-aid" note in the aromas and flavors, but it's not as bad as it sounds. The craftsmanship is on point. Ultimately I do like it and consider it an enjoyable experience.