2008 Jubelale discrepancy

HWMBO and I had Jubelale on tap at two separate restaurants. We enjoyed the caramel malt flavor that came through, the hop flavor and bitterness, the slight smokey character, etc.

Imagine my elation at finding it bottled at the local supermarket. I picked up a 6 pack and made myself ready to enjoy a delicious, interesting, flavorful, well-crafted commercial beer in my own home. HWMBO cracked open a bottle and poured a glass as I looked on in anticipation. The beautiful red color showed that they had used a great deal of caramel malts, the head looked seraphic, and I watched him take the first sip.

"Uhhhhh. This is WAY better on tap."

The malt character in this beer doesn't come out, the hop aroma and bitterness are almost nonexistent, it merely tastes like a smoked porter, boring and mundane. After a great deal of excitement leading up to the consumption of this beer, it was all we could do to finish the single glass collectively in a couple hours. Hoping that the single bottle that we opened was a lemon, I opened and poured another the following day. It tasted the same.


Has anyone else experienced this?

I have, I had one in the bottle a few weeks ago and I was not impressed at all, I guess I should have tried it on tap yesterday but after having it in the bottle I just couldn't convince myself to try it again.

I have found the same to be true of most beers. It has always seems to me that subtleties only come out when on tap, provided the taps are clean and the keg is fresh.

I find several of their beers don't do well in the bottle. Mirror Pond is waaaaay better at the pub.

You know, you are right... the only Deschutes products that translate well to bottles, IMO, are Obsidian Stout and Inversion IPA.

But then there's serving them Nitro'd .... mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm!

I reconfirmed this by having a glass at the bar last night. It was so much tastier. I don't know how so much flavor is lost through the pasteurization process, but it made me a sad panda.

I agree it seems like a lot of their beers don't translate well to the bottle, I have a case of Mirror Pond I bought some time ago for a party and I was disappointed in how much different it tasted in the bottle. I am definitely going to have to give Jubelale another go on tap.

OK, I emailed Deschutes a couple days ago and received this:
Hello Laurel,
I am sorry to hear that your experience with Jubelale in a bottle was less then stellar. If you still have the bottles, could I get the batch number and top row of numbers (i.e. 264 08 – which means it was made the 264th day of the year 2008). If I could get this information I can send it on to our QA manager and he can sample that batch. Thanks so much! I see that you live in Washington so we will send you a token of our appreciation for being a fan of our brews and for taking the time to write to us!
Cheers!

Gina Schauland
Brand Ambassador
Deschutes Brewery




Strangely enough, bottle # 3 was tasty, and almost as good as Jubelale on tap. Same batch #.

I like how they responded. Good customer retention practice.


I haven't had Jubelale on tap... too much BMC around here for that.
I enjoyed what I had in bottles however.

Ya know. I've never had it on tap. But I finished of a 12 pack and picked up a 24 pack at costco. The 24 pack hasn't been as good as the 12 pack was. I thought it was all in my head, but after reading this I wonder if it was the batch.

I haven't had it on tap to compare, but I have been more than satisfied with the bottles I've bought. If it's better on tap then in bottles, then it must really rock!

Hmm having the bottle right now. I don't care for amber ales so this is not my cup of tea. But it's certainly better than the 2 below. It is missing something... the hops are too muted, so the flavor is very two-dimensional (if that makes sense). I bet the hops come through better on tap.

IMO Bridgeport is better in the bottle as they are all bottle conditioned.

Saccharomyces said:

Hmm having the bottle right now. I don't care for amber ales so this is not my cup of tea. But it's certainly better than the 2 below. It is missing something... the hops are too muted, so the flavor is very two-dimensional (if that makes sense). I bet the hops come through better on tap.

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I just bought 2 below after not having it for about a year and a half. Not what I remembered, the hops did not seem to be anywhere near what I remembered.

Cool! Great response Laurel!

I know some people here are not fans of Deschutes, but I never fail to eat and drink at the pub when I travel through Bend. Good food and beer.

are the deschutes bottles good to re-use for bottling home brew?

My SWMBO used to live in Bend and was a regular at the brewery. She moved to Portland 8 years ago. Every Christmas they send us a Christmas card special delivery. Pretty cool, and it gives me a chance to ride her about exactly how much porter she managed to drink back then.

Hoserama said:

are the deschutes bottles good to re-use for bottling home brew?

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Me and a couple friends are Deschutes fans, so that's pretty much all I've used for my homebrew. They work great.

I have a sixer of it in the garage fridge. I will have to try one tonight. After trying Shiner Cheer, I'm sure this will taste like heaven.

Jubleale and SN Celebration are the only two I've bought a second time this holiday season. Haven't had any off flavors or underpronounced hoppiness in the Deschutes. I'll have to see if I can find it on tap for comparison.

One of the locals I always like won't be purchased again, Breckenridge Christmas Ale. Bitterness without much hops flavor and a really funky almost spoiled malt flavor.

EdWort, hope you enjoy the Deschutes. What was wrong with the Shiner? I'm looking to get it next trip.

McKBrew said:

I just bought 2 below after not having it for about a year and a half. Not what I remembered, the hops did not seem to be anywhere near what I remembered.

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I felt the same with this year's batch of NB 2 Below - I am thinking it's either a recipe change, OR the bottling process just took more out of it this year?

I had a pint on tap late last month, and it was DIVINE. 2 Below is one of my favorite quaffing beers. I like to call it an India Pale Lager.



And Laurel -- MAJOR thanks for sharing Deschutes' response, that is very dang responsible of them! Talk about taking the utmost pride in your business!!!!! You'll have to be sure to let us know what the 'token' is.

TeufelBrew said:

EdWort, hope you enjoy the Deschutes. What was wrong with the Shiner? I'm looking to get it next trip.

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Thanks. I'm going to pour one right now. The Shiner Cheer was simply putrid.

EdWort said:

Thanks. I'm going to pour one right now. The Shiner Cheer was simply putrid.

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I think you will enjoy the Jubelale.

Jubelale is tasty! SWMBO gives it two thumbs up too!

Hoserama said:

are the deschutes bottles good to re-use for bottling home brew?

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Big fan of deschutes and have used them for bottles a lot. Work great for bottling your own in.