Church Brew Belgian-Style Abbey Dubbel

Commercial Description:
Our next available specialty beer is the Belgian-style Abbey Dubbel. The Abbey monks, who still brew it today, first introduced the Abbey Dubbel style. It is a hearty brew, which was designed to sustain the monks during their forty day fast for lent. They did not allow themselves to eat any solid food, but they could drink beer. This unfiltered product still contains the yeast (which is a good source of B vitamins, and helps the beer improve with age). When the beer is brewed, a large amount of grain is used. The brewer collects the wort only from the first runnings. This wort has the highest sugar concentration. From this wort comes the Dubbel (Belgian for double). After the first runnings have been collected, the second runnings (the less concentrated wort) are then collected for the production of a Simple or Small beer. Our Abbey Dubbel, though not brewed in an Abbey, was brewed in a former Church. It is deep red/brown in color with a characteristic Belgian-ale aroma. The body of the beer is moderate with some roastiness from brown and chocolate malts. It was brewed with entirely Belgian malt plus an addition of imported dark candied sugar. The hop bitterness and character were kept intentionally low in order to profile the aroma and the maltiness.