Collaborating for a Cause | Jukes Ale Works Pt. 2

Just over a year ago, we spotlighted Jukes Ale Works for the most recent installation in the Collaborating for a Cause series. In the rundown, we also teased what was coming next from the Nebraska team as a continuation of their support for Alex. At the time they were nearing the completion of their contribution to the original Life international barleywine collaboration. This global effort was meant to pay homage to and financially support Don’t Drink Beer and his family, and was an incredible show of community and togetherness from the craft beer industry. Since the publishing of that last article, Life: ONE made its debut, and we’re here to share it with you all as the newest installment of the series.

Jukes V.2

There’s two things that this family-owned brewery are no strangers to: supporting the community, and barleywine. The Jukes family have lived in the Elkhorn area for over 50 years, and there was no better backdrop for them to open up a brewery than the small town that many of them had called home for so long. Seven years later and they’re still thriving, building an incredible portfolio of beers in a wide variety of styles.

But barleywine was always king. So in May of 2023 when Alex – who, among so many other things, is also the creator and pioneer of the Barleywine is Life movement – was hospitalized and diagnosed with Stage IV cancer, Jukes wasted no time in sharing a special, limited tapping of its original Bayonet barleywine. Back in their homebrewing days, Don’t Drink Beer’s encouragement of their now-famous barleywine gave them the validation and confidence to continue pursuing their brewing dreams. Understandably, they wanted to show all of the love and support they could, donating 100% of  proceeds for all of that original release to the Kidd family GoFundMe during their time of need. But they didn’t stop there.

Life : ONE

Back when the last Jukes installment went live, the team was nearly ready to pull their first thread of Life barleywine from a port barrel. Originally, the intention was for it to be released as-is, an unadulterated single barrel expression. Ultimately, however, the final recipe for Life: ONE – while still very much majority port-BA barleywine – ended up being a 73% Port barrel Life base aged for 19 months, blended with 27% Double Bourbon barrel aged Bayonet barleywine aged 14 months in a combination of 1792 High Rye + Buffalo Trace Experimental barrels before being “exhumed & re-tombed” in a single Sideshow Spirits Bourbon barrel for an additional 27 months.

The inaugural expression was released as part of Jukes’ 6th anniversary JAWtoberfest celebration on September 20th of last year, and as with the original Bayonet release for DDB, this also saw 100% of proceeds go toward Alex Kidd directly, or to any charity he chose. Like with previous releases, Jukes offered this beer as well as a second anniversary exclusive on OZNR the morning of the 20th. We were lucky enough to have Jukes save us a bottle, and we want to shout out the awesome brewing team over in Elkhorn for allowing us to make this volume 2 installment possible.

The Review

Life: ONE is an opaque, deep brown abyss in the glass. A thin ring of beige foam bubbles up at the end of the pour, but dissipates almost immediately back into the darkness.

The nose on this hits hard with dark fruit, really showcasing that port barrel character. Notes of prune, apricot, and toffee are the headliners, while undertones of chocolate and blackberry bring up the rear.

The port barrel is again the star of the show on the palate. Vanilla and fig come through strong out of the gate, followed by a dry, toasty nuttiness on the mid-palate that carries through to a mildly bitter finish. Dark chocolate and baking spices interplay in the background with time and temperature, adding even more depth and complexity to the profile.

Medium-bodied on the mouthfeel, which feels perfect both for the style and the barrel treatment. Port casks don’t generally lend themselves as well to heavier-bodied barleywines in my opinion, and this strikes the balance beautifully. Medium bitterness throughout, with the gravity hidden incredibly well. While it’s certainly a warm drinker, there isn’t a trace of aggressive ethanol heat to suggest the ABV is north of 14%.

More to Come (?)

While Life: ONE stands incredibly well on its own, it may not be the end of Jukes’ contribution to the Life series. Additional threads of the original Life base are currently resting in Cognac, Bourbon, Liqueur Cerise, and Tokaji barrels, opening the door for even more unique expressions down the line.

Exactly what shape those future releases will take is still being worked out. Whether they emerge as standalone single-barrel variants, carefully constructed blends, or eventually as subsequent entries like Life: TWO or Life: THREE have yet to be seen. But given the care and creativity already poured into this project, there’s plenty of reason for barleywine fans to be excited about whatever comes next.

Supporting the Kidd Family

As exciting as the future of the Life series may be, the purpose behind it remains far more important than the beer itself. Since our last installment, Alex has continued to openly share updates on his ongoing fight in his cancer journey, including the difficult reality that the experimental immunotherapy clinical trial he entered early last year ultimately proved unsuccessful.

In February, Alex shared that severe inflammation and escalating pain throughout his rib cage, lymph nodes, jaw, and orbital area forced him off the treatment after scans showed it was no longer working. He has since undergone another aggressive stretch of chemotherapy involving irinotecan, Avastin, and 5-FU, documenting side effects including hair loss and recurring nosebleeds along the way. Most recently, in May, he updated that he had completed another CT scan following twelve consecutive rounds of chemotherapy.

Through all of it, the craft beer community continues to rally around Alex and his family in remarkable ways, and Jukes’ involvement with the Life project remains one of the clearest examples of that support in action. Beyond creating an exceptional barleywine, releases like Life: ONE serve as a reminder of what this community is capable of at its best: generosity, togetherness, and showing up for people when it matters most.