Anderson Valley Brother Davids Double

Brewed by Anderson Valley Brewing Company
Style: Abbey Dubbel
Boonville, California USA

truly a tribute to trappist beers. i mean, what greater tribute is there to the REAL thing than to try to imitate it and then to fail in such a fustian flop. oh, i’m sorry, this poor brother david double brown sugary malt bomb had the misfortune of being opened in my tasting session along side a rochefort 8-- it likely would have scored much higher but for that accident of fate. this plastic-topped pomposity begins by claiming that it may be the closest you’ll get to heaven on earth. yes, how ironic it would be if heaven chose to hide under a dog turd. the brew emerges from the bottle in the worn copper color of a 1940’s penny: dirt encrusted in the grooves and polished brasso bright with palm sweat along the salients. the head stands down and in ten seconds you could find more lace on a linebacker’s jockstrap. the aroma barks alcohol and airplane glue. it has cherry, anise and sandalwood in small measure, and of course more raisin than the kellogg’s cereal company uses in a week. in the flavor, cough syrup and cola collide heaving out bits of bitterness that could put an eye out. well balanced in the sense that everything is equally off. a fruit fly would find this cloying; a pine beetle would find this bitter; a wino would say "ouch, some kinda -hic--hot fusel notes, ain’t there, man?!?" seriously, brother david, nice try. shave your head with a westmalle bottle shard and fast for forty days and nights while wandering in the sinai. and then --with a bit more humility-- try again.

Pours a dark brown with ruby highlights. It has a quarter inch head that quickly fades to a thin ring, which leaves behind only traves of lace. Smell; lots of darks fruits; raisins, plums and bits of apple. There’s also some brown sugar and chocolate thrown in. Taste; initially the alcohol has a very strong presence. Once you get past that the fruit flavors of raisins and plums come out, as well a bit of spices and some chocolate. Once I let this warm up a bit the alcohol was more subdued than it was with the first few sips. Mouthfeel is a bit weaker than I would have expected for a double, especially with the low carbonation. Not my favorite of this particular style, but it’s still pretty decent. I enjoyed this much more than their triple.

Pours burgundy with a fully receding tan head. Aroma of plums, dusty yeast, brown sugar, dates, and cloves. Taste is quite estery with an unpleasant yeasty bite. Notes of oak, clove, dusty yeast, and toffee. Mouthfeel is medium bodied with lush carbonation. Not bad, but ultimately a flawed beer. Even though the alcohol is well-hidden, this beer is too strong. The yeastiness is unpleasant despite the aroma is delicious.

Pours brown with a light head. Nose is not strong and pleasant, mouth is a bit sour and not overly complex with a medium body. A decent example, but not as exceptional as other anderson valley offerings.

Pours a clear dark brown color with a ring of light brown lace. Aroma of candi sugar, caramel and fruits. Flavor of candi sugar, caramel malt and candied fruits. The body has a medium thickness with a creamy texture and medium carbonation.

Kind of an unextraordinary beer, but the price was right. A little sour and a little bready. Gead fizzes away very quickly. It is smooth to drink and doesn’t taste terrible. It could have definitely used a little more character. I don’t agree with a very high rating, but I don’t agree with somoe of these seriously low ratings I’m seeing either.

Bubblegum esters, chocolate, brown sugar, honey and dark pit fruits in the overly alcoholic aroma. Clear mahogany brown body is topped by a low, off white, fine bubbled head that lasts well. Sweet, round chocolatey flavour with berry like fruits and some earthy, herbal character is mostly pleasant but marred by a persistent tartness and strong alcohol. Body feels a bit astringent with fairly low carbonation that doesn’t really offer much to the mouth. Bottle sampled with beerbuzzmontreal, MartinT, Olivier_MTL, Rastacouere and Yowie.

Brown with orange edges, slightly hazy, small beige head. Very fizzy. Smells like the brown sugar, cinnamon and raisin oatmeal I had for breakfast! Has an unusual initial taste, sweet yet tart with a touch of dusty spice, reminds me of pipe tobacco and mocha in the middle. Has an "off" tartness to it, might be a bad bottle, might be my taste buds. Well, I’ve let this warm, ate some bread and tasted this again and again, it just doesn’t seem right to me. I usually like Doubles, and this looks good and smells good, just has a funkyness to it that ain’t quite right.