Stoudts Abbey Double

Brewed by Stoudts Brewing Co.
Style: Abbey Dubbel
Adamstown, Pennsylvania USA

This is the first I have had of this style (Belgian Double) but I don't think it's supposed to be this sour. Deep, deep cloudy garnet. Thin head. Sour aspects cover up all other flavors aside from some malty sweetness. I must have tried a bad bottle.

Headless and cloudy, this big bottle offered immediate aromas of apples and cinnamon bread. First taste is complex with a burst of soft fruits, sugars, spices with a long malt/bready finish. No alcohol detected. Even better as it warms. A session Belgian-style perhaps?

(Bottled 5/6/02)Good head and lace. Raisin nose. Highly carbonated and fairley acidic. Dry.

very good domestic version of a Belgian dubbel ale. Malty and higher in alcohol.

Nice color, especially in the second glass with all the yeast making it really murky. The head was tall, but it disappeared very fast. My two main complaints: felt fizzy, and a bit too sour for my taste.

What exactly is that on the label? Is it a pile of barley? Is it a yeast explosion? We may never know. Beer pours a wicked muddy brown (it looks sorta like coffee with cream if you swirl the bottle and collect the yeast off the bottom) The beer isn’t as complex as other dubbels I’ve had, both in the aroma and taste. It’s good stuff, for sure, but have it first or second if you ever do a tasting. It doesn’t stand up to some other brands, like Westmalle. The color of the beer is certainly the best part.

Vintage 11/12/01. Murky caramel hued amber. Thin, foamy tan head. Steady, tiny bubbled carbonation. Yeasty aroma, caramel, dark fruit skins. Initially a bit airy, tart and shallowly malted. Green apple tartness lingers. Medium light body. Weak malt flavor and just a smattering of Belgian yeast notes filtering in. Mild notes of dark fruit skins and a subdued caramel sweetness try to overcome the tartness, which is strange but alluring. Body starts to expand as it sits, fluffiness fades and a toasty malt aspect arises, as well as the previously buried dark fruit notions. Mildly sweet, fruity. Low bitterness. Yeast pour obliterates any hint of light. Adds a bit more tartness, though milder than the initial whack. Kind of washes away the nicely malted flavors that had finally developed. Finishes spicy, tart, with a chewy marshmallow feel and fruit sweetness. Quite the weird rendition, but it grew on me the more I stayed with it.

Rerate: Vintage 6/7/00 Zero sign of foam atop this hazy deep copper liquid. Peated malt aroma with abundant apple and maple notes. The flavors show lots of toffee, hint of peat, caramel, nuts, apple, and only a hint of acidity, probably due to this being 2 1/2 years old. The palate is fizzy and largely bubbled. Could be a bit cleaner. Otherwise, an aged beauty, just past its peak. For an American style Dubbel, this is achieved nicely. My bottle is dated June 7, 2001. I got this a month old from the brewery. I drove 860 mi. each way to take home 60 25 oz. bottles of their wonderful beer. Needless to say this is a great brewery that makes great vintage dated beers. This has improved with a years age. It is malty, spicy, warming and pretty darn complex.