Westmalle Dubbel

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

330 ml Bottle conditioned ale. Dark reddy amber colour with creamy head. Still the Dubbel the others should aspire to. Natural spice flavour toasted barley and fruit (raisins). A pleasure to drink at any time.

A very mild and pleasant beer. Delicate and smooth mouthfeel with a very well balanced complexity. If you’re not in the mood for the heavy Rochefort 10 or Westvleteren 12, this would be a great mild substitute. It is quite spicy and caramelly and the 7%ABV is not very obvious.

Pours a murky brown color with a very small head that does not stay long. Has a nice spiced apple/fig taste with nutmeg and cinnamon undertones.

Beautiful touches of chocolatey malt and flowery hop bitterness…Candied apples and light citrus fruit sorbet…Much better in the bottle than on tap…

Bottle: Cloudy, dark amber coloured, thin, but lasting beige head; sweet malty (caramel) and a bit vinous nose, dried fruit and a tinge of balsamico; sweet flavour with a tinge of bitterness; dryer fruity finish(bananas) with some chocolatey bitterness; medium to full bodied, creamy mouthfeel; well done, but not complex.......................

330 ml bottle bb 09/05. Dark brown with a reddish tint and a large fading beige head. Delicious yeasty and malty aroma. Cherry, raspberry, dates, vanilla, and brown sugar. As it warms more raspberry and some chocolate comes out. Flavour is also nicely complex, malt and fruit are followed by a bit of herbal hops. Finish is warming with some spice and some cocoa notes.

Deep brown and cloudy with a huge head. Musty and old aroma of plums and cardboard. Good palate, with the usual alcohol-like trappist flavor, and also some plum and woody characteristics.

Bottled. Deep reddish-brown with a massive, tan belgo-head. Very appealing appearance. Aroma of spices and alcohol with a pronounced malty sweetness and bitterness. Balanced flavor with mostly the same elements. Long warming aftertaste with little bitterness. Rating: 7-5-8-4-17-4.1. (051109)

Bottle, in appropriate glass. It pours a loevely more or less clear body, brown, with a ruby glow, and with a thick, creamy beige head on top. Really firm head, it doesn’t level when I start sipping the beer, but form holes and bumps, and a lovely set of lacings. Dried fruits like raisins and prunes, dark sugars, a little spiced touch, some notes of alcohol and a little caramel. Some faint chocolate notes too? It’s quite effervescent in the mouth, sort of palate cleansing, but still sweet enough not too accomplish that. I could wish for a fuller body, but the flavors, prunes, berries, raisins, dark sugars, some alcohol and a little spicyness, are just lovely. There’s a pleasant bitterness towards the finish, managing to harness the sugars. This is a beer I return to quite frequently, and it goes well all the year, even in the summertime. (080611)