Allagash Dubbel Reserve

Brewed by Allagash Brewing Company
Style: Abbey Dubbel
Portland, Maine USA

750ml. bottle from City Market Vermont.The color is ruby with a nice beige head.The taste is of lots of malt and some yeast and an added sweetness of caramel. Also in the taste and aroma is the sensation of grapes, this is not overpowering but it gives it a nice finish.

Thick, murky rose-brown color: amazing color. Head disappears almost instantly; better head would have improved it. Cherry liqueur in the nose, crystalline candi sugars. Sweet with a dark, dried-date aroma. Flavor is darkly, sugary sweet (corn sugar), dark grape and wine and sour cherry notes. Dark malt, a little more darkly sour as it warms; saccharine toward the end. Creamy and not that fizzy on the tongue. Well-balanced and easy to drink considering it’s 7% abv.

Pours a cloudy brown, maybe reddish brown. with a half inch of dense tan foam. Aroma is a bit fruitier than I expected. Flavor is a bit biting, maybe even a bit tinny/piney, which overpowers the sugary maltiness I was expecting. Not bad, but I’ve come to expect better from Allagash.

Bottle from batch 71. Pours a large, fluffy, quivering, clingy, light tan head. Clear, ruby body with abundant, dancing carbonation bubbles. Looks great! Aroma is of fruity esters, light alcohol, caramel malt, some miscellaneous dark fruit and dark cherry. The flavor adds some spicy phenols, light raisin, some old dust, and a little rum. No discernible hop presence. Medium bodied, with prickly, lively carbonation. Palate is a bit sticky...perhaps the attenuation was a little low? Maybe a bit more candi sugar would be in order? Light, warming alcohol. Overall very good - would be great if the body were a little lighter/thinner.

Corked and caged, batch 71. Nice overspilling nose, gentle caramel and rich earthy brown malt, sweetness with dusty hops and a touch of smoke/roast. Ruby-brown, not really translucent, with a lovely creamy, spoonable tan head, laces like a mf’er but a little sudsy. Sweet start gives way to rich maltiness; good complexity, with pittier fruits coming through, a touch of dry wood and smoke in the back. Overall, about as balanced as a malt-forward beer can be. Medium body dries out toward the end, a touch of brown sugar. No alcohol until the light warming of my outer cheeks. Classy, mellow rendition, the type I wish flew from a font in my backyard and allowed daily imbibing.

Dark pour, offwhite head. sampled at the Brewery. Aromas of banana, yeast, caramel, some pepper and some dark fruit. Flavor is yeasty with banana and clove and some woodiness. medium mouthfeel, finish is a bit boozey

Draft at The Bier Garden. Pours a fading off-white head with a dark amber body. Smells of yeast, banana, barnyard, and clove. Flavor is yeast, banana, clove, and zest. Finish has a nice dryness.

Draft from a tulip. Appearance: Amber with an off-white head and nice lacing. Aroma: The only thing I can pick up is bubblegum on the nose. Flavor: Yeast, nuts, and a hint of chocolate. Palate: Medium body with a smooth texture.