BJs Abbey Normal

Brewed by BJs Restaurant & Brewhouse
Style: Abbey Dubbel
, USA

[At BJ’s in Boulder, Colorado] A clear dark orange beer with no head. The aroma is sweet malty with hints of caramel and alcohol. The flavor contains notes of alcohol, yeast, spices, and nutmeg, leading to a dry hoppy end. Not bad, just not interesting.

Draught. Body is hazy medium amber. Aroma is moderately malty (cookie, caramel), lightly yeasty (cobwebs), with notes of banana and clove. Flavor is moderately sweet, lightly acidic, lightly bitter. Finish is lightly sweet, lightly acidic, lightly bitter. Medium body, watery (almost syrupy) texture, lively carbonation. Pleasant, sweetish Belgian-styled amber ale.

Had this on a couple different occasions at the BJ's in Boulder, CO. Just found my "weathered" notes. Overall, I enjoyed the beer, even though it was rather mild. Had a mild clove-like aroma with an underlying banana sweetness. Light, bread-dough malts. Would've liked to see more aggressive hops to balance out the sweetness, but that's just me. As far as light, easy-to-drink Belgians go, this one is pretty good.

This was a nice little sipper. Caramel and ruby coloring accented by some nice alcohol notes in the aroma, mellow candi sugars, dark fruits and some sweet breads, with just a little bit of rum in the finish.

Tap Mesa, Az Location; Sweet malty aroma with some alcohol fermantation. Darker body mabe a mahagany hue to it was dark in restarant. Small head but tyical with abbey’s. Moderate sweet flavor of cherry in the finish. Alcohol flavor up front and fermentent like plum aftertaste.

Sampled & brewed at BJ’s Chandler, AZ & was most likely a completely different beer
Pours with a wispy pale head that sits atop a deep amber brew that is almost brilliant. The aroma is a bit more muted (I hate pint glasses) than I would like; I get notes of brandy soaked raisins, prunes and a bit of alcohol in the finish. The taste is sweet with a medium-full heft to it that coats the palate. The beer is quite fruity; from the sweet fruit notes of raisin and sweet plums found up front to the near finish. The finish is tart and reminiscent of sour plums, a bit of cherry, currants and even perhaps a hint of tamarind.

This beer finishes with some spicy notes of higher alcohols, spicy phenolics and a sharp carbonic bite. Speaking of phenolics, there are notes of clove here, and even some banana character as it starts to warm up, which are sort of an under current to the sweet malt character.

This beer pairs quite well with the blue cheese dressing that is on my wedge salad; it softens the beer out and accentuates the smooth fruit notes. This is a pretty good attempt at a Dubbel, though I might wish for a bit more rich maltiness.

On tap at Chin Hills location. I wish this was actually a normal version of the beer, because it was terrible. Abbey Dubbel wouldn’t have guessed that at all. Poured an amber/orange color with a medium white head. Aroma of yeast, banana and metal; bizarre. Flavor was dry, yeasty and earthy; no sweetness or fruir. Very metallic. I think they might have some problems with the lines or something, because all the beers were really off.

On Tap at BJ’s Reno Location. Pours out a hazy amber topped with a white head. Aroma of malts and spice. Tast a nice mix of pit fruit and sweetness. A little ABV at the end.