Affligem Dubbel

Brewed by Brouwerij Affligem / De Smedt (Heineken)
Style: Abbey Dubbel
Opwijk, Belgium

Serve in Trappist glass

<b>1/14/2009</b>: Affligem Dubble is highly carbonated, so it pours with a large, puffy beige head. It has a hazy, bright orange color, good head along with good retention and lacing. The aroma is slightly hoppy with an herbal tone with an underlying obscure toffee maltiness. The flavor is sharp with a predominent herbal quality. There is also a cherry/corky undertone that seems to work okay for this beer. There is also a punch of citrus like grapefruit toward the backend. It has a light to medium-light body and feels light and foamy on the palate. Overall this beer seems weak and not overly interesting for the style.

Bottle. Poured a dark caramel orange with a big off white head. Aroma was really nice, but at the same time a bit strange. Both earthy and sweet, with hints of BO, apples, fruit, spice and caramel. Flavor showed much more dark fruit character than the Trader Joes 2008 that I just had. Brown sugar, caramel, toffee, yeast and earth as well. Pretty solid beer.

On tap at Loosje, A’dam. A very brown dubbel with sweet, caramel taste. Malty, peppery and prickly.

UPDATED: JAN 2, 2009 My 750ml was also a bit of a gusher. Pours copper with tan head that subsides. Malty tones of raisin, caramel, and toffee. Not a lot of hops. Subtle belgian yeastiness. Pretty good.

750ml bottle. The foggy deep amber liquid sports a fluffy, airy, 2-finger sand colored head. Soft fruits, cola, anise, marzipan, and banana round out the nose. Spicy, apple-y flavors with mild tart fruit, pine and alcohol… the estery finish is reminiscent of Sharpie markers or model airplane glue. Carbonation and peppery spice add broken-glass sharpness to an otherwise light palate. Grainy aftertaste. An interesting, comparitively clean interpretation of the style that veers away from expected plum and stewed fruit flavors.

330 ml bottle. gusher. beatiful garnet with a huge tan head that lingers and laces. wonderful dark fruit, spice and yeast in the nose. flavours are similar but very thin. nice dubble but to thin overall. i was really excited after the aroma but the flavour let me down a bit. one id buy if availible in singles.

Bottle was a tiny bit a gusher, pours a deep garnet red with a slightly fizzy 1 finger tan head that does last reasonably well and leaves a bit of lacing. Nose is very fruity, lots of notes of sweet berries, and what kind of smells like gummi candies. Flavour is pretty complex, again, starts out very sweet with plenty of light fruits, but quickly fades away leaving space for the beer to show through. Caramel notes become apparent, and the finish is very spicy and almost has a bitter hop feel, but not quite. Mouthfeel is nice, very smooth and slightly creamy. Enjoyable beer.

From bottle. Crisp toasted caramel aroma. Mahogany colour. Crisp off white head. Crisp on flavour also. Spice and strong in malt. Smooth texture with hints of nuts. Nice Dubbel.