Westmalle Dubbel

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

On tap @ Café de Paas, Den Haag/The Hague. This is one of my long time favourites. Dark reddish brown colour, creamy beige head. Aroma of yeast, a bit musty, chocolate. Taste is dark grain, some chocolate, raisins, a little sour. What makes this really good is the lack of sweetness and the rather thick mouthfeel. Tastes even less sweet from the bottle, however, I prefer it from tap. Imho the best dubbel there is.

I don’t have specific tasting notes, but I love abbey dubbels, and Westmalle’s is one of the finest, as are their other beers.

12 oz bottle purchased from Frugal MacDoogal’s in Nashville. Poured a cloudy brown color with a one finger tan head that quickly disappeared into a layer of scum floating on top of the beer. The aroma was almost non-existent. Notes of malt and dark fruit were present, but not as dominate expected. The flavor was okay. Very malty with a bit of alcohol in the finish. This wasn’t a very good beer. I might try a fresh one and re-rate, but this one was no good.

Brown/dark amber. Small, creamy tan head. Yeast, malt, dark fruit, candi sugar, and some vinous character-aroma. Roasted fig, yeast, malt, alcohol, clove, candi sugar-flavor. Complex brew. Full body, creamy with plenty carbonation, dry finish and a bit of a yeasty aftertaste. Could be the best dubbel I’ve had.

Bottled 33cl. It pours a beautiful deep amber beer with a thick, rather big remaining tanned head. Outstanding flowery aromas of ripe fruits including berries, melon, banana and peaches. Wonderful hints of wild strawberries. Some toffee and licorice in the nose. Very sweet and slightly smoky. Some woody, madeira-like elements. The flavor is very rich and sweet with reminiscent woody characteristics. Rather vinous. This beer has a pleasant bitterness. A very well balanced dubbel with a sharp and spicy taste. Lots of caramel with hints of black chocolate. The finish is bitter with some dark chocolate that comes through.. I was impressed by this dubbel! Additional comment: An excellent trappist - slightly sour. Woody and vinous. Some candied fruits showing up. Unique. Third rerate: Excellent. Huge amonts of aniseed, chocolate, pineapple, homemade caramel, candy and sage showing up in both aroma and flavor. Good bitterness. Absolutely fantastic. After several sampings: Mango does come to mind in the taste especially.

Bottle. Aroma of sweet, darkish fruits, murky, musty yeast, light maltiness. Flavor basic sweet fruits and Belgian yeastiness, pretty basic-seeming at this point. Solid, but didn’t find anything super special here.

hazy dark brown, fluffy beige head. aroma of raisins, malt and alcohol. small bead carbo and a smooth mouthfeel. rich, deep malt flavours with hints of toffee and yeast. finishes dry. very nice.

330 ml bottle. Reddish brown in colour. Seems to be slightly hazy. Tall light-brown fluffy head. Distinct candy sugar sweet aroma with light banana esters thrown in. Crisp dry flavour with a drying hop bitterness. Somewhat thin-bodied, but holds quite a lot of flavour. Surprisingly bitter. Nice mellow flavours.