Arbor Phat Abbot Dubbel

750ml corked bottle bought directly from the Brew Pub a few months ago. Brewed on Sep ’05. Poured a dark, dark and murky brown color with a large sized off white head. Aromas of grapes, lots of prunes and raisins, some yeast, and apples. Tastes of strong tart grapes, prunes, raisins, and yeast. The tart and puckering finish took me by surprised but really grew on me as I drank more. Sweet with a stronger tart / puckering finish. Different than a lot of Dubbels...

Sample at the brewpub. Near-black with a smidgeon of head and lacing...yeasty, baked fruit dominates the full nose...extremely sweet in the body, much the character of cola inistially, maraschino cherries, baked apple...zesty carbonation helps to keep the sugar from cloying, but sweet brown sugariness does mark this and dumbs it down a bit I think. Decent but far from great dubbel.

Tap at brewery: Reddish brown hue with a small but lasting off-white head and good lace. The aroma has notes of belgian candi sugar, caramel malting, apple, plum, white pepper, allspice, and earthy yeast esters. Very sweet with heavy notes of ripened fruits. Nearly cloy in it’s presentation (but not as bad as the sample of the triple I tasted). The finish is surprisingly dry and a touch woody which saved the palate. A mild alcohol warming is offset by a lively mouthfeel. Okay... but you can do better when looking for an American made dubbel.

Thanks to Notalush. Poured a clear mahogany and a thin off-white head. The aroma smells like glue and caramel. The flavor was mildly tart with notes of caramel and cola. Light-medium body.

Tap at HDG Daze of the Devil. Deep brown beer with a thin tan head. The aroma is very plummy and fruity. Deeply malty with a bit of molasses and caramel. Not very spicy at all, but is quite plummy and sweet. The yeast is pretty subtle. It’s a pretty nice beer, but I wouldn’t tag it as a dubbel.