If you have visited the UK or frequented a French ski resort in the last year or so, you are likely to have seen an orange and white can, or an orange and white pub tap, with Jubel emblazoned in black font across it. Looking at this rather plain-looking beer branding you may have wondered to yourself: Well, what is it? And, more importantly, why is everyone around me drinking it?
That’s the question that’s been bugging me for the last few months. Whenever I have ventured across the narrow sea back to my hometown of London, I have wondered from where and when this new craze originated. Unannounced, Jubel has silently infiltrated almost every pub and bar throughout London, and it doesn’t seem to be stopping there. Since its humble beginnings in 2018, it has become not only the best-selling craft beer in over four hundred pubs, but also the best-selling craft beer in Sainsbury’s.
On my last visit to London, I couldn’t resist the temptation of trying one of these mystery pints: viscous and bubbly, it frothed out of the tap into my glass, a brighter and seemingly thicker golden liquid than the average lager. The foam settled in mass quantities at the top, like a Belgian beer, light and airy, only to be sliced off, poured, sliced off, and poured again until the golden yellow reached the acceptable pint level. I took the glowing glass in my hand and noticed a slight stickiness on the outside where the drink had spilled. I paid the extortionate price of £7.25 (€8.65), and headed back to my table for a first sip of this bamboozling beverage.
Much to my surprise, what greeted me was not the hoppy and citrusy IPA that I had been expecting, nor the traditional heavy lager that you often find in craft beers. Instead, what first hit my lips was a sweet and exhilarating, bright and boisterous peach flavour. I couldn’t help but recoil and raise my eyebrows in surprise as the peach swirled around my mouth, followed by the taste of light and refreshing lager. The combination was a little unnerving at first, but after the initial shock, the deliciousness and delightfulness of this hybrid pint took hold of me, and I was drawn into its magnetic pull. Unable to put down the glass, constantly needing another sip of this moreish tipple, I finished my first Jubel without even realising, and then quickly started on my second. I was hooked. Hooked on this peculiar little liquid, and just like countless others before me, I had to find out more.
Jubel was inspired by the French beer pêche, a pint of lager cut with peach syrup, rather like a Guinness and blackcurrant. Its founder, Jesse Wilson, was, in his own words, “known for dodging beer”’ and beer pêche was the only thing he really enjoyed. So, in 2016, he began on his journey of creating the first pre-made beer and cordial hybrid. Since then, this combination of lager and peach has come on leaps and bounds, following the giants like Budweiser, Carling, Doom Bar and Thatchers in winning Drinks Brand of the Year 2022 in the Grocer Gold Awards. Jubel have recently expanded their product line for those who don’t have such a sweet tooth and have released a lemon variation of their popular pint, time will tell if that does as well as the original.
Now, I know what a lot of you may be thinking: Why not just have a “real” beer? Isn’t Guinness and blackcurrant for people who don’t like Guinness? Surely just get a cider or a ginger beer if you don’t like lager?
Indeed, these questions of course crossed my mind when I first tried Jubel, and I cursed myself for falling so madly in love with it, particularly as I hold a rather slating view of Guinness and blackcurrant. However, I found my peace with this delightful drink because I believe that what Wilson has done is revolutionary. In creating Jubel he has not just added a simple syrup to an already magnificent drink that stands on its own (Guinness), thus tarnishing that drink’s original flavour. Instead he has invented a whole new style of beer — a lager fusion. An invention that in the days of White Claw hard seltzer, alcoholic ginger beers, and (dare I say it) Guinness and blackcurrant, has plugged a huge gap in the market. No longer do people go to the pub and only have the option of lager, ale, stout, or cider. Instead, the hundreds of variations on each of these things have led people to crave something more, a real change, something divisive, something different, and that is what Jubel has done so brilliantly. Also, let’s not mess around, it tastes absolutely incredible. It is probably one of the most moreish and refreshing beers that I have ever drunk, and I don’t even like lager.
Which leads me on to my next question: Will Dublin fall next to the Jubelpocalypse? Dublin is a city that is utterly entranced by Guinness — that heavy, creamy, black pint we all know and love so well. The pint that keeps us warm on cold winter nights and keeps us asking the big question: Who’s the best at splitting the G? Guinness has the nation’s heart. However, I believe that there may be space for a little peach delight in the Irish beer market. Over the last few years Zingibeers, Guinness and blackcurrant, and hard seltzers have become more and more popular in Dublin. People who aren’t always in the mood for a Guinness have searched for something to quench their thirst, and who’s to say that Jubel isn’t the answer. I, for one, would love to be at the Pav on a warm summer’s evening, exams looming but the sunlight coming across the cricket pitch making me forget all about them, the hustle and bustle of a DUDJ Pav Friday just beginning, and a cold, peachy, pint of Jubel, the perfect answer for my post-library parch.
