SKA True Blonde Dubbel

Brewed by SKA Brewing
Style: Belgian Strong Ale
Durango, Colorado USA

Draft pint at the brewery taproom. Orange-yellow with a nice sheen. Rich and malty with a big alcohol-yeasty finish to tap it all off. Good.

Pours from a 22 oz wax covered bottle an orange gold color. Small to medium sized white foamy head. Aroma is fruity and sweet with a touch of apricots and peaches. A medium bodied Belgian style ale. Malts are fruity and sweet, with hints of apricots, peaches and pears. Spices seem to be pepper, ginger and the usual. Lively small-bubbled carbonation. Really dry and crisp finish, which is kind of surprising given all the sweetness. Mouthfeel is full. Finish is crisp and dry. Aftertaste is slightly sweet.

Flavor on this is not like a dubbel, more like a blonde, just not in a real good way. Pretty untatsy.

Pours a golden color with a thin white head. Banana is very apparent in the nose along with faint spices and alcohol. Surprisingly bitter with plenty of fruit. Unfortunately the bitterness seems out of place here. Ugly bitter start, nice fruit in the middle, ugly alcohol finish. It seems like they should have done a few test batches before they stuck with this recipe. Calling this beer a dubbel makes me think that the brewery is sort of clueless and maybe that’s why their beers have never impressed me.

Bottle on 11/28/2008 in the Great Butters Tasting of 2008. Very slightly hazy golden body with a medium creamy off-white head. Sweet caramel and floral hop aroma. Sweet light caramel and grain and bready flavor with some floral hops in the finish with a light bitter aftertaste. Medium light body with moderate carbonation.

Thanks to bditty187 for this bottle. 22oz waxed bottle. Pours a slightly hazy pale orange with a quarter inch head that falls quickly to a spoty cap and ring. The lacing is actually much thicker that I was expecting from the remaining fam. Smell; slightly fruity with pineapple and apricots and a light touch of honey. Some chalky yeast is present and it’s a bit phenolic, especially as it gets warmer. Taste; the apricots and pineapple are just as evident in the flavor as they were in the aroma, but I think the honey is a bit stronger and adds just a bit more sweetness than I would really like. There’s a bit of a peppery spiciness that fades quickly to the chalky yeasts and phenolic flavors, that end up making this a bit of a chore to finish. Mouthfeel is light to medium bodied, and a a little on the syrupy side, and the drinkability suffers because of it.

22 oz. bottle on 10/22/06. Slightly hazy gold with an uninspiring small white head. Aroma is yeasty bread and some lemon. Light body and quite effervescent with a clean palate. Lighlty sweet flavor with some faint sourness and bitterness as well. One dimensional and not very memorable.

Clear copper amber color with a rocky white head. Bready yeast aroma with some soft citrus. Medium body and low carbonation. Flavors of yeast, citrus and some hops, there is a slight candied tone at the very end of the finish. The finish is medium to light and not very lasting.