Allagash Dubbel Reserve

Batch #50:Dark brown, nice lasting beige head.Minute plentiful bead.Light malt nose. Somewhat fizzy nice sweet malt profile

750ml bottle, batch #56. Off white, quickly dissipating head. Fine, lingering lacing atop a deep brown liquid, slightly cloudy. Nose on the faint-side, suggestions of sweet malt and caramel, and an odd, musty note. Slightly watery downtake. Slightly bitter finish with an sftertaste that is mostly molasses-sweet, but again, slight. That is the overall lasting impression: toned down, or slight in stature. Not unenjoyable, and certainly drinkable, but not as much wallop and complexity as I usually expect from a Dubbel. I recently reviewed a new Dubbel and thought it was a bit weak, but it outshines this one in every category. It is time to revisit that review and rethink my opinion as a result.

Pours a cloudy amber brown with a small beige head, which dissipates to a thin film. Aroma of yeast, bananas, brown sugar, mustiness, and some caramel. The flavor is not too sweet, with caramel and the yeast being the dominant flavors. Bitter finish, some alcohol warmth in there as well. Creamy mouthfeel, medium to full bodied. Soft carbonation. Pretty good beer.

out of the bottle pours an unimpressive muddied body consisting of amber, copper and fire-engine red shades. the aroma doesn’t carry - flat and of sweet malts. the body is smooth w/ a buttery consistency. the cream/grease lingers at the finish on the palate. taste is heavy on the malts - chocolate, caramel, grain, vanilla. finishes dry. not bad but too sweet for my taste. I didn’t even want to finish this one, let alone have another.

Good brown appearance with decent sized head and a little lacing. Good dubbel head. Fruity with a little alcohol, some yeastiness. The taste is a little lacking. Simliar taste to a good dubbel but it’s lacking some of the in your face attitude that the Belgians have. Give this one a try but don’t expect it to kick the shit out of your favorite dubbel.

750ML bottle-batch #52-Pours a nice amber color w/a big creamy tan head. Roasted, grassy aroma. Big bold metalic, spicy, floral flavor. Rich mouthfeel w/a long finish. Seemed to have a lot of carbination. Has some kick to it. Good beer, refreshing, but kind of heavy

Within style, this one coulda been rated even lower. As a beer, not bad. Looked like a dubbel, brown with basic head. Aroma was hard to decipher and pickup. The flavor was more like a porter with caramel and even coffee coming through pretty strong. Spices were light and this one certainly wasn’t sugared up with candy sugar. Finished bitter, like you would expect from a coffee / chocolate based malt. I haven’t been impressed with many of these Allagash products.

Poured brown with a off white head. Aroma was spicey, nutty, floral, and belgian yeast. The flavor was mostly belgian yeast with some metallic notes. Big spices and yeast throughout.