Jubilation Ale - Baird Brewing Company / Fishmarket Taproom

Ghenna

California

3.85/5  rDev +4.6%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

Medium copper pour, respectable lingering film on the top of the beer. Big dark fruit malt on the nose, caramel too. A little astringency in the background. LME and dark fruit in the taste, a bit of cinnamon dryness in aftertaste. Well balanced. Medium light MF, taste doesn't linger much.

As a regular malty ale this is actually pretty good. Easy drinking MF, pleasant not overly powerful malt- makes for a nice strong amber. As a winter warmer though it kind of lacks, as it lacks the usual spicing that I expect from a winter warmer. A good beer none the less, one I would happily make a ready staple of my fridge door were it not for the price ($10/bomber).

Serving type: bottle

01-07-2011 03:19:39 | More by Ghenna

Northsider

Illinois

3.13/5  rDev -14.9%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

Got this bottle from West Lakeview Liquors, Chicago.

I was enticed by the "brewed with figs and cinnamon" on the label. What a crock! I couldn't taste of that in this beer. This tasted more like a typical Brown Ale with some extra alcohol thrown in the mix. The first taste was very offputting. The drink got somewhat better as I let it warm up, but still not really my cup of tea.

A very 'average' beer in my opinion. The novelty of drinking a Japanese beer quickly wore off as I slowly finished my glass. Not a repeat for me.

Serving type: bottle

07-30-2011 20:01:42 | More by Northsider

thirdeye11

Texas

3.85/5  rDev +4.6%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4

Presentation: Poured from 21.4oz brown glass bottle (what an odd size) into Duvel tulip.

A: Pours a medium brown color, when held to light it is a deep orange in appearance. Really pretty color. Lacing on the glass is superb, 1 finger head that's gone in about 60 seconds.

S: The bottle indicated this is brewed with Japanese figs and cinnamon, but I'm not sure I detect either in the smell. There isn't much to be smelled here to be honest. Trust of the matter is I just can't detect any smells here except some of the malt which is sweet. It's not bad, but not strong either.

T: The taste is however pretty distinct. There is a nice chocolatey malt up front which is delicious. Lingering bitterness indicates the presence of some hops, but isn't bad at all. Quite nice actually and never gets in the way of the malt. The yeast profile reminds me almost of the complexity of a Belgian beer, but not quite. Pretty well balanced.

M: Maybe the most perfectly carbonated beer I've had yet, the tiny bubbles dance across my tongue unlike any beer I've had yet. Weight of the beer is a little thinner than I'd prefer, but the carbonation being so good keeps its score really high.

D: Very high, I could drink a lot of this. Nothing cloying, bitter or bad in any way.

Highly recommended. I'm not sure the cinnamon or fig ever show their presence, but this is a good beer and you should try to find it.

Serving type: bottle

06-10-2009 03:16:00 | More by thirdeye11

Provocajade

Nevada

3.78/5  rDev +2.7%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

Bought a bottle at Total Wine&More in Rancho Cucamonga, Ca. Poured into large wine goblets.

Smell is strongly reminiscent of white grape notes even though I would have thought it would (should?) smell like figs and cinnamon. A bit of maltiness comes though and that was all I can smell as it warmed. I thought it smelled nice, but it just wasn't what I expected to smell.

It tastes sweet, almost caramel on the forefront with some figs coming through ( I was hoping for more) and has almost a Belgian yeasty quality to it. Then evolves to be slightly spice-y (there's the cinnamon!) and comes in with a slight bitter finish...nothing harsh- kinda like citrus zest.

It's mouthfeel is smooth, kinda creamy. I thought it was going to be heavier, but was lighter feeling than it looked.

I haven't had Winter Warmers before so I can't quite judge how this compares to the style standard. It probably skews a bit of my review being ignorant of a style so forgive me, and take it for what it is....Out of the different winter and festive beers I've had this was the mildest and simplest- sometimes that isn't a bad thing. It was a relatively easy to go down beverage and on occasion I don't need a beer to boggle my mind picking out notes and make my mouth go on a rollercoaster ride. I enjoyed it, but I feel there are other beers out there that have similar notes that I enjoyed more. I probably will go try more winter warmers and other Baird beers, but don't know if this will end up in my fridge again.

After drinking my throat got a bit warm and irritated which could very well have nothing to do with the beer, but I don't just get my throat going out of the blue thus the B rating.

Serving type: bottle

12-07-2010 10:06:33 | More by Provocajade