Avery - Old Jubilation Ale

During this frigid Minnesota winter I cant help but review these seasonal brews. Most of what breweries are releasing right now are their stouts and old ales. That means you folks who enjoy your nice, malty brews are in luck! Don't worry hop heads, there are some delicious American style barleywines that have yet to be released this season. Stay tuned for those reviews in January.

Continuing with our winter seasonal review trend today we dive into Avery's Old Jubilation Ale. One of the BJCP's recommended beers for the Old Ale style in the Strong Ale category. This mahogany colored ale has a sweet, nutty, slight hazelnut aroma. Almost like a nut brown ale. This one will be more complex as it warms. The wife claims to smell toffee. I'll believe her for now. My first taste brings a solid malt presence with a hint of alcohol on the way down. The bottle says "cellarable for 3+ years". I'm sure with some age this old ale will lose that alcohol taste and be replaced with a smooth, creamy finish. Some of the initial flavors you would expect of an old ale have some trouble breaking through the 8.3% ABV. However, it is possible to tell those flavors are present. Just not as prominent as I would expect. A couple more sips and some more warmth confirm my initial thoughts; sweet malt and toffee (I can taste it now...) with a mild bitter and alcoholic finish to dry out the early sweetness.

Overall, this is a 3.0/6 for now. I think this one has potential. Ill be keeping the three I have left and placing them to the side for another year and see how it has matured. Its worth picking up a six pack now to see the difference between a young and an aged old ale. I have no doubt this will age gracefully. Unfortunately there is no bottling date printed on the bottle to keep track of the release year. But thats nothing a sharpie cant fix! if you pick this up, drink one now and take a few notes for yourself, stick it with the remaining bottles, and read them next year to see if your thoughts have changed. Its a fun experiment in beer tasting!

A little background on the style of the old ale if you are curious... historically referred to as the breweries stock ale, this beer style was aged at the brewery to blend with their comparably lighter beer that they served at their pub. Because of the time this beer was kept at the brewery you typically found age related characteristics with these beers like oxidation or even sour notes if kept improperly. A variation of this beer that is a relative new comer to the beer scene is the winter warmer style. Typically a larger ABV with the addition of more malt and at times holiday spices to make for a bolder. more festive beer if done right.