 CharlesDarwin (1501), State College, Pennsylvania, USA
Jun 2, 2008
750mL Bottle. This took forever for me to get around to drinking. This beer was approximately 1 year old. A 2007, drank in 2008. Corked with a light spritz and slowly dying carbonation. Aroma cast a glow of settled, alcohol infused tannic fruits. Definitely some undeniable golden raisin shadows over a glow of lightly toasted caramels, sweet onion glaze and fruitcake. Typically phenolic and still a little warm. Poured in red-brown, lightly hazed with a rim of off-white. Flavor presented well-melded characters running the gamut from condensed sugar raisin bread to salted figs and balsamic, back to the lighter side of apricots. Fruity and minerally. The Lost Abbey yeast and mineral character settles in and braces the alcohol against the malt. Works well with Carne Adobado. I do appreciate that the malt flavors are well-intergrated, sweet, but not syrupy and playing well off of the alcohol. Complex, but not crazy. Starting to show a nip of age. The faintest, dustiest wisper of hops hopes to corner some of the gin sugars, but doesn’t get very far. Obviously a decent Dubbel, but maybe not one that I would grab again, as I would look for a little more darkness, depth and drinkability.
KimJohansen (5208), Copenhagen V, Denmark
Dec 25, 2008 Hazy brown with large beige head. Spicy aroma with notes of roasted malt and caramel. Sweet flavour with rosted malt burned caramel and chocolate.
AlabastorJones (652), San Francisco, California, USA
Dec 24, 2008 Had this on tap last night at the tap room in pacific beach and it was almost a religious experience, and had to run out and get a bottle for christmas eve dinner at my sisters house,
BOTTLE I have to admit as Im drinking it out of the bottle now it is not the same as it was on tap last night but ive got the bottle in front of me so this is what Im rating... foggy brown color with no head, date/raisin aroma, dark fruit flavor, alcohol present and feels pleasantly warming, not at all harsh or hot, mildly spicey, bright zesty fruity finish... he bottle im drinking has sort of an off tart/sour flavor that is way off, maybe an old bottle that wasnt kept very well (from BevMo), the beer I had on tap last night didnt have the off sour finish at all, it was nearly a perfect ale... the difference is startling...
ON DRAFT Heres the rating that I wrote down last night... Dark red body, thin white head, plumbs, dates, trappist yeast banana nose, bubble gum flavor, wow, light lemon flavor, roses, light fruit on a dark body, complex and very interesting, sooooo good, wow, blown away by this beer
The rating is sort of merge between the two experiences.
Dorwart (1678), Robbinsville, New Jersey, USA
Dec 21, 2008 Minimal off-white head of fine bubbles. Sparse carbonation. Looks a little lifeless in the glass. Dark malts, molasses, spices and dark fruits. Color is a ruddy dark mahagony brown. Sweet and malty flavor, with some raisins, more molasses and caramel. Typical dubbel flavor but a little bit flat. Very flavorful though. Finishes sweet and malty. A decent brew but nothing really that fantastic. Smooth and flavorful.
KingpinIPA (840), Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA
Dec 20, 2008 Dark Reddish color. Smell of dark fruit, spice, nuts, malt, hops, alcohol and caramel. Taste of raisins, plums, spice, nuts, malt, hops, alcohol and brown sugar.
Drink4Satan (517), Bristol, Rhode Island, USA
Dec 19, 2008 Pours a murky rusted mud colour with a small tan head that fades quick and produces no lacing. The nose emanates feet from the glass, ripe with fig, port, and candy sugar. The flavour more dry than the nose suggests, though it is still very sweet. This is a near perfect representation of an abbey dubbel. The raisins are evident in the flavour, though not overwhelmingly so. The finish is dry and a bit watery. The body is a little watery as well.
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