Westmalle Dubbel

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

Red/brown colour. Good lasting head. Aroma is pleasantly yeasty. Flavour is balanced and a little dry. Good long aftertaste with some bitterness. A very pleasant acquaintance.

(bottle) Murky brown colour with a big foamy tanned head. Roastmalty aroma with a fruity and spicy background. Soft sweet flavour, malty taste with biscuits and some fruitiness with a smooth bitter and spicy (liquorice) finish.

This poured a deep brown color with a beautiful, foamy light brown head. The aroma is sour with some spiciness and hints of lighter fruits. It has a full-bodied malty flavor with a touch of banana. Very carbonated. Has a not unpleasant sour finish. Tasty.

A fun beer to watch. Small bubbles that get bigger as you go up in the tall amber head. An amber orange color. Quite dry. Noted the darker fruits including cherries. A dry finish with flavors of hazelnut and toast.

Banana and yeasty aroma. Beautiful head. Dark brown colour. Malt sweetness, hoppy. Finishes a little bitter. Best on tap.

I don’t know how this beer avoided me for so long. Here we have a trappist of near my favorite style. Commonly available and at my grasp no less than three dozen times. Finally we meet! What a pretty head it has! An elevated outer crust, an even mantle then a bulbous core erupting with activity caused from the trappist logo below. The source of this shows up as a blood ruby color up to the light and without it looks nearly backstrap molasses black. All this goodness persists and clings to my glass like a baby does its blanket. Upon getting up close and personal, I find it has a complex smell covering things such as bananas, yeast, raisin, toasted sesame seeds and a pimento note as well. Avoiding beating around the bush, I just decided to grab it and drink it. Lots of zesty carbonation, light alcohol burn, some hop bitterness and acidic yeast bite. Quite a punch! I think I offended it. Either way, it’s balanced, full bodied, not too sweet. I’ll give it time to vent and breath a little more... Ok, back to the beer. Lots of caramel and the everpresent yeast and fruity esters. The tail reveals more of the alcohol along with a metallic twinge and a far off maltiness. Well Westmalle Dubbel, it was a pleasure. Down the hatch!

Yeast, burnt malt, caramel, treacle toffee, raisins, candy, citrus - it's all in here, and very well put together too. However, try as I might, I just can't help but find these abbey dubbels a bit cloying. The first couple of sips are wonderful but, by the time I get to the end, it's all just too sickly to really rave about.

Bottle. Poured into snifter to produce a ruby brown hue with a large creamy off-white head that lasted. Good fruity balanced aroma. Medium to full body with smooth texture. Same good well balanced flavor with a long finish with small alcohol bite.