Hargreaves Hill AD

Brewed by Hargreaves Hill
Style: Abbey Dubbel
Steels Creek, Victoria, Australia

Not bad at all. Whilst dubbel is probably the most accurate descriptor this version is much lighter, in terms of palate weight, and fruitier than one would typically encounter. In fact, the base flavours appeared to have a lot in common with the excellent ESB, that is, a very lifted sweet hop character, but in this case some sweeter malts are also added to the mix. If you can get your head around this different take on the style then I think its a beer that is hard not to like.

I didn’t really go for this too much... pours really light for a dubbel, small off-white head. Pretty non-descript aroma, a bit of prunes, toffee bit not really in a sweet way. Medium body, way too thin for a dubbel, smooth enough but severly lacking in depth and completixy, the dryness doesn’t help either. Flavours of toffee and some simple dried fruit. No yeast character. Small moderately bitter finish. I couldnt help but to be a bit dissapointed.

On tap at brewery. This is a highly complex dubbel with dense dark appearance. leans towards the sweet end of the specturm, but with a tart after-taste. Look forward to this being put in bottles (it’s a long drive out to the brewery).