Bornem Dubbel

Brewed by Brouwerij Van Steenberge
Style: Abbey Dubbel
Ertvelde, Belgium

Bottled(330ml). –Shared with Doggythedog at the Hopdevil in Zagreb
Dark brown/amber coloured, huge pale beige head, vinous acidic nose. Quite weak Dubbel. Aroma is malty, sugary and slight yeasty with few fruity hints (banana-I don’t think so). Mild spiciness in the finish.

330 mL bottle from LCBO gift pack. Translucent copper-brown with abundant creamy beige head. Aroma of sweet, over-ripe fruit and alcohol. Flavour of dark, roasted fruit, toast, and something else. And yeast. Alcohol is not obtrusive. No bitterness to speak of, but not overly sweet.

After having a couple of Belgians that weren’t really up to snuff, I was a bit apprehensive about this. Gladly, I was very pleased with this beer as it really was a solid beer. Aroma was malty sweet, but dig a bit deeper and you can pick up toffee and a bit of fruit. Appearance is dark brown with a reddish tint to it, almost like a coke without the carbonation with an incredibly large grayish looking head. Mouthfeel was very sublime with a creaminess and mildness that was impressive. Flavors in this beer weren’t really complex at all, but what I was able to get were strong notes of dark fruits and malt. Quite enjoyable, easy to drink and light enough to not notice the 8%.

A dark ruby color with a enormous towering light tan head. I really haven’t seen a head that was so sculpted. This helped the appearance, but scares me about the carbonation level. The nose is sweet and tart like apple juice. There’s some malt in there, with a bit of grain, and a hint of hops. Not much complexity. This feels nice in the mouth. Creamy, with good viscosity, while not too carbonated. A hint of alcohol warming. The flavor is better than the aroma. Rounder malt to go with the tart apple astringency. There’s some darker toasted flavors and some oaky earthy flavors. I think there’s even some detectable hops that sneak in right between the round malt sweetness and the tart lingering aftertaste. This isn’t a bad tasting beer. Doesn’t feel like a 8% abv brew.

It has a huge fluffy head and it kind of looks like a root beer float, I’d say it looks nice. Smells and tastes similar- very sweet, fruity like apples, a bit spicy, malty and the alcohol is very detectable but not necessarily entirely out of place.

Bottle at the Hopdevil in Zagreb, shared with ozujsko
The label was a bit different, blue I believe, but this is it. This poured a lovely dark brown/red colour with a huge, enormous even compact, thick beige head that went away slowly leaving tons of lacing. Brilliant. The nose was a bit of a letdown, vinuous, berries and yeast. The taste was a complete letdown after that. Empty. Some faaaaint background malt, caramel and maaaybe graphite. Kinda creamy. Almost pathetic. I’m tempted to make a comparison with some people, but naaah. Don’t feel like it. Dubbels are not my favorite style, and this definitely didn’t change my mind.

Poured a dark amber colour with a huge white head. Very carbonated. I agree with others that it is not as complex as Westmalle, but its still a good beer.

Bottle: Poured a deep amber color beer with a thick off-white foamy head with great retention and lacing. Aroma of candi sugar is pretty dominant with some distinctive Belgian yeast. Taste of sweet malt with candi sugar is dominating and a bit – too one-dimensional for my own taste. Body is also a bit thin but alcohol is well hidden.