Anderson Valley Brother Davids Double

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

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.

Very filtered pour shows a maroon to brown appearance covered by a light off-white film. Gently toasted raisin bread aromas speak of a malt-yeast balance attempt that heads toward buttered werther’s originals, toffee and licorice sweetness. Earthy scotch character grows almost soily, and definitely barky in mouth. The alcohol remains competently in the background, but the filtered structure shines through a rather thinned-out body where only mellow to soft carbonation does not really invite us toward the next sip. A bit simplistic, but pretty much what is expected by an American attempt at this tough style to master.

Any first impressions?
-An attractive head recedes over dark mahogany.
-Roasting prunes and dates are tickled by prominent alcohol.
-Brown sugar hides as chocolatey yeast.

What if you dig deeper?
-Some black pepper resides behind the yeast.
-The low carbonation allows us to perceive the slightly toasted bread crusts.
-The mouthfeel gets lifeless after a while in the glass.
-A simple dubbel without much character, while remaining a nourishing drink.

Bottle; no date.

Nice sweet malty aroma. Candi sugar and rum, alcoholic vapors. Oak and vanilla, toffee. Macerated raisins, firg. Good complexity and fruitiness. Dark brown clear with thin off-white lacing foamy head. Medium to heavy bodied, a little thick with medium carbonation. Starts sweet and hearty. Raisins and figs, caramel. Sugar and toffee, light chocolate. Musky pears and mild fruity hops. Mild hop finish with nutty sweet dryness. After is dry and sweet and a little rough.

Poured a dark brown with a slight reddish hue along the edges. Roasted malt notes on the nose, along with dark frui and chocolate. Medium-full bodied. Chocolate, caramel, dark fruit, maple syrup, brown sugar, and hops on the tongue. A decent dubbel and the alcohol is hidden really well.

Pours a dark copper mahogany with a thin wispy light tan head. Nice, sweet bready Belgian yeasty, dark caramel and dark fruity aroma. Starts with a bready malty sweetness turning more dry, lightly earthy and semi-tart toward the mild chocolatey finish. A nicely balanced and authentic Belgian dubbel.

a very intense complex aroma followed by the hugely disappoint mouthfeel. fizzy and sweet, there is not enough body to hold this beer together. lacking in balance and overly sweet, perhaps there is too much sugar?

Bottle. This beer pours drak brown with a brown head, that immediately dissipates. There is a strong aroma of maple syrup and slight hints of pine. The flavor is of toffee and caramel and fairly sweet. There is no hoppiness noticeable. The beer is not as full-bodied as it would seem, it is somewhat fizzy on the palate. The finish is short. I expected a little more from this beer, I had the Sister Jen’s once at the Anderson Valley Pub on tap, and it was much better.