Bornem Dubbel

Brewed by Brouwerij Van Steenberge
Style: Abbey Dubbel
Ertvelde, Belgium

[Kurts 46 years day.] 75 cl bottle, blue label. Sweetness, abbey-true style, dark brown look with a good head and nice wellsweet aroma. Notes of burnt sugar, honey, raisins and other dried fruits. OK, but ordinary.

11.2 oz bottle. Part of a Steenberge variety six-pack. I think this is the same, as it has a differnt label, but is the Dornem Double Abbey Ale. Pours dark brown but not completely opaque with a very light high head (served a bit warm though which could account for the extreme head). 8% APV gives a nice heady buzz, smooth taste. I don’t find the coffee in this one, but maybe I need to taste it more.

Pours a dark brown with a quickly disappearing white head. Fruity, yeasty aroma. Silky mouthfeel reveals a malty body, highlighted by fruity undertones. Almost tangy finish. I’ve had many variations of this beer, sometimes it follows this rating, sometimes it’s like a rich chocolate chake. Odd, but an old favorite.

0.33 l bottle. OK, not served in a trappist but in the tulip anyway poured enormous creamy ocher head going down so slowly it took me maybe half an hour to pour the whole glass. 5 times more than to drink it. It had dark red/brown body. Not strong chocolate malt aroma, with some metallicity. Taste somehow empty, just a hint of bitterness and sweetness in the form of chocolate. Very rich carbonation. Fine long finish but still a bit empty. While drinking leaves neatly laced glass. Not bad beer but it misses the character.

Redish brown with avery thick, off-white head. Malty and fruity notes. Taste is both seet and sour. Medium to full body with a sour finish.

Brown colour, large off-white head. Fruits and dark malts in the aroma. Flavour is of (dried) fruits, has some nice sourness, but otherwise a weak dubbel.

Looks murky brown with a large head of course that takes a long time to calm down. On the nose it seemed like very sweet grape skins. The taste has a very slight bitter edge with a mild and somewhat citrus tone. It seems to be a bit lighter than what I would expect from a dubbel as I would expect some more flavor. In the future, I would most likely not go for this one again as I feel there are better examples out there.

33cl bottle, label is long gone, don’t ask why. Almost no aroma, a little bit of ripe fruit and some almost mocha-esque qualities to it. I’ve never had a better looking Bornem in a glass though, big rocky white foam with a slightly hazy tawny liquid. Flavor is again throwing me for a loop, usually it’s slightly tart with lots of fruitines, but this bottles is real earthy with notes of cocoa powder and coffee grounds. The damn near overpowering carbonation and rather thin mouthfeel distract from everything else. How can the same beer be so different all the damn time?