First, appearance -- they both are the same color, but the 2008 version is fairly cloudy.
Aroma: the 2008 version has dominant caramel tones with a bit of toffee and nuts, and a hint of smoke. This year's beer has a less dramatic nose, with mostly just a slight nuttiness and roast malt aroma. Not much in the way of hop aroma in either version, but perhaps a bit more in the '09.
Taste and mouthfeel: the '08 version has a bit of caramel sweetness with subtle hop flavor. Both versions are assertively bitter in the finish, but I'm a bit surprised that the '08 finishes sweeter than the '09. The current one is very dry. That is correspondingly reflected in the mouthfeel, with the '08 being fairly full bodied, and the '09 feeling considerably lighter.
They're both great beers, and it's interesting that they can be so different coming from (I'd assume) the same recipe.
I just went on the Deschutes brewery tour over Thanksgiving and asked about the Juble recipe because some years are better than others. The tour guide said that they tweak it slightly each year, so it's not always the same recipe. Plus ingredients vary from year to year, despite using the same suppliers. -sandra
ReplyDeleteCool, thanks Sandra!
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