Westmalle Dubbel

Brewed by Brouwerij der Trappisten van Westmalle
Style: Abbey Dubbel
Malle, Belgium

Original Rating, September 20, 2004.Pours a brown color with a towering head. Decent malt aroma and taste, with a bit of fruit. Very watery. Eh, nothing special. 7/3/6/3/13 Re-rating, October 31, 2008. Murky brown color with a thin head. Aroma of sweet grains, caramel malt, bread and yeast. Strong taste of a sweet grain soup, brown sugar, Noble hops and yeast.

Bottle. Brown colour with a massive beige head.. Aroma is spices and sweet malt and yeast. The flavour is spices alcohol and some cellar notes. Beutiful

2003? bottle. Burgundy red with deeper chestnut browns, fizzy (as expected) but a big off-white head with some brown flecks in it. bottle conditioned. Aroma of bittersweet prunes, light phenols, dry gingerbread?, and a touch of sweet molasses. Hmm, this is very light, much more so than expected or hoped for. Good cinnamon, brown sugar, earthiness, rhubarb, dry raspberry and a touch of lightly sweet chocolate. Very watery consistency, finish has some alcohol on it and a touch of astringency. Not terribly impressed, will try again at some point.

(33 cl bottle at The Rover, Göteborg) Deep ruby red color, tan creamy head. Nice fresh fruity scent. Spicy and alcohol taste. Low bitterness. Normal body. Nice and refreshing, even after a few beers.

While I still think Allagash dubbel is easier to drink, I think that this one is much more complex. Nice cloudy ruby red almos tbrown look with very tiny bubbles and moderate head. Lacing is moderate. Moderatly sweet, yet it has a yeasty profile which balances it out. Very slight hop balance. Not bad, but for 7% I would think it would be more mellow than this. Very nice to drink every once in a while.

(33cl bottle) Sampled at Beerbistro in Toronto. Pours a medium, beige head and brown body. Nose of brown sugar and plums. Very good.

330ml bottle. Very dark, light healthy off-white head. Aroma ranges from apple and peach initially to raisin and plum, with candifloss present too. Lively carbonation, a little too much perhaps. Taste follows the same pattern as the aroma, very mellow and with a sweet richly-roasted malty taste, verging on coffee but with also sweet fleshy fruit too.

330ml Dark Chocolaty brown with a slightly brown head that lasted for some time, plenty of flavours swishing around malty, fruity and a little sticky. Excellent!