Westmalle Dubbel

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

Rerate: Complex offering. Tasted alongside 8 other dubbels in a blind taste test. Dark fruit, cherry tart, tobacco. This has a dry and somewhat bitter finish. Very good and personally rated 2nd behind t Smijse Dubbel.

Original Rating: Large bubbled disappating head. Brown and body is highly bubbly, somewhat like champagne. Attractive looking beer when poured. Aroma is nice and strong cinnamon, caramels, dark fruit. This is excellent. A little more subtle than some of the other Trappist ales I’ve tried, but fairly smooth. The only knock is that it may be slightly overcarbonated. Otherwise a pretty decent offering.

Aroma: 10
Appearance: 5
Flavor: 7
Palate: 3
Overall: 17
Total Score: 4.2

12 oz bottle. Pours a murky brown with ruby highlights when held up to light. Had to wait a few minutes to get a good feel for the aroma until the large frothy head died down. Aroma is very rich, notes of dark fruits, caramel malt sweetness, belgian yeast. Flavor is very dry up front, I was expecting sweeter from the aroma. Smooth flavor profile- malt, black cherry, alcohol, fruity, yeasty. Mouthfeel is perfect, medium bodied with mouthcoating finish that last well into the next sip. Lively carbonation fits this beer well. Very good Dubbel, I guess there’s a raeson this is considered a classic.

Pours deep reddish brown. Huge frothy white head, that laced the glass. Aroma is fruity, mostly cherries and I picked up some oak. Taste of cherries, oak, caramel. This was very easy to drink, and went down smooth. Taste wasn’t overpowering by any means.

Wonderful beer, with the kind of complexity you tend to forget with the more extreme stuff. Very dark red, lowely glow through the darkenss. Compact, Lot of dark berries. Cherries, prunes. Dryness from the hops, but they are not easy to distinguish. Dry finish. Should appeal to most peaople, shoudl be available in every beer bar that is to be taken seriously.

I reviewed this beer back in April of 2007, and had a bottle in the US of undetermined age and dubious condition. I had it again in Belgium (at a regular, non-beer-focused restaurant) and thought it to be great, and needed to revisit. The dubbel and tripel from this brewery are very good. Poured a dark red-brown color with lots of head. Aroma was slightly sour with some cherry notes and a little bit of malt accents. Flavor was maltier and roastier than the aroma with more sourness which was slightly cherry-ish in flavor. Mouthfeel was quite clean and dry and quite good. I would highly recommend this beer. I had it along with a croque monsieur and some frites at a Brussels restaurant called La Trappiste.

Pours a dark, rusty brown. Yumm. Much richer and deliciouser than the Trippel. Definitely a repeater worthy of repetition.

11.2oz, best before 04/01/08 Pours a hazy mahogany with a little bit of garnet and a one finger beige head in my Chimay chalice. Aromas of yeast, dusty powdered sugar, roasty and caramelly malts, a little raisins. Like most dubbels I’ve rated, the aroma isn’t terribly strong, but it is quite nice. Flavor is much more pronounced, with lots of yeast and toffee malts and raisins, and the blunted dusty powdered sugar is also a bit stronger than the aroma. This probably is one of the more bitter dubbels, which might not really be saying much. There may or may not have been a tiny bit of grassy hops--I thought so but I could be making it up. Dry finish, which I wasn’t really expecting after the the creamy mouthfeel. Medium bodied, mod-high carbonation. The head lasted me til the end, so I dunno what cab is talking about. Also, I liked this one quite a bit better than the Rochefort. Very good.

Bottle. Strong, fruity, complex, and delicate aroma, an aroma deserving of prestige. Cheeses and fruit must. The faintest tinge of color, near-black. Generous cakelike flavorful head (head is to this beer as frosting is to cake). Delicious sweet, the alcohol balanced perfectly, fruity, crisp, autumn fruit. Lightweight, frindly, tasty finish.