BJs Abbey Normal

Brewed by BJs Restaurant & Brewhouse
Style: Abbey Dubbel
, USA

Serve in Trappist glass

[At BJ’s in Boulder, Colorado] A clear dark orange beer with no head. The aroma is sweet malty with hints of caramel and alcohol. The flavor contains notes of alcohol, yeast, spices, and nutmeg, leading to a dry hoppy end. Not bad, just not interesting.

Draft. Poured clear dark brown with average frothy light brown head that lasted with good lscing. Complex roasted malt, spice and yeast aroma. Medium body with a smooth texture and soft carbonation. Medium fruit & spice sweet flavor with a medium sweet finish of moderate duration. Interesting solid brew.

Draught. Body is hazy medium amber. Aroma is moderately malty (cookie, caramel), lightly yeasty (cobwebs), with notes of banana and clove. Flavor is moderately sweet, lightly acidic, lightly bitter. Finish is lightly sweet, lightly acidic, lightly bitter. Medium body, watery (almost syrupy) texture, lively carbonation. Pleasant, sweetish Belgian-styled amber ale.

A: The pour is a dark amber color with a finger of off-white head that has fairly good retention. S: Quite malty and heavy on the bread notes. Lots of toffee with a caramel aroma that is only moderately sweet. Touches of dark fruits are present in the background and there is some yeast there as well. T: Once again, heavy on the bread as you take a few drinks of the beer. Despite a rather modest alcohol content, the beer has an alcohol flavor to it. Fairly heavy on the dark fruits and banana with mild caramel and spices such as clove. M: Medium in body with a smooth level of carbonation. O: Not too shabby for a BJ’s beer. Could have done with a better flavor, but you can’t win ’em all.

Tap at Woodlands/Shenendoah location
Pours an average tea brown with semi-thick white head. Aroma is spice (cinnamon, nutmeg, coriander), sweet and malted bread, and a touch of earthy melon. Flavor is a mishmash of earthy vegetables, dirty malt, melon, and raisin. Watery mouthfeel. A "dubbel" for BMCers to say "Hey! Lookit me! I’m drinkin’ a micro brew!"

Had this on a couple different occasions at the BJ's in Boulder, CO. Just found my "weathered" notes. Overall, I enjoyed the beer, even though it was rather mild. Had a mild clove-like aroma with an underlying banana sweetness. Light, bread-dough malts. Would've liked to see more aggressive hops to balance out the sweetness, but that's just me. As far as light, easy-to-drink Belgians go, this one is pretty good.

Sampled & brewed at BJ’s Chandler, AZ & was most likely a completely different beer
Pours with a wispy pale head that sits atop a deep amber brew that is almost brilliant. The aroma is a bit more muted (I hate pint glasses) than I would like; I get notes of brandy soaked raisins, prunes and a bit of alcohol in the finish. The taste is sweet with a medium-full heft to it that coats the palate. The beer is quite fruity; from the sweet fruit notes of raisin and sweet plums found up front to the near finish. The finish is tart and reminiscent of sour plums, a bit of cherry, currants and even perhaps a hint of tamarind.

This beer finishes with some spicy notes of higher alcohols, spicy phenolics and a sharp carbonic bite. Speaking of phenolics, there are notes of clove here, and even some banana character as it starts to warm up, which are sort of an under current to the sweet malt character.

This beer pairs quite well with the blue cheese dressing that is on my wedge salad; it softens the beer out and accentuates the smooth fruit notes. This is a pretty good attempt at a Dubbel, though I might wish for a bit more rich maltiness.

On tap at Chin Hills location. I wish this was actually a normal version of the beer, because it was terrible. Abbey Dubbel wouldn’t have guessed that at all. Poured an amber/orange color with a medium white head. Aroma of yeast, banana and metal; bizarre. Flavor was dry, yeasty and earthy; no sweetness or fruir. Very metallic. I think they might have some problems with the lines or something, because all the beers were really off.