Bornem Dubbel

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

Serve in Trappist glass

Part of a variety pack. Kind of a light tasting beer for the color. A bit of dark fruit and the expected banana, certainly taste the malt and a little dryness at the end. Easy drinking. Don’t taste a lot of alcohol. Nothing I have to have again, but a fine drink.

750ml, pours a cloudy brown, with a nice tan head. Flavors of honey, tangy berries, cloves and banana. This is a pretty interesting beer, nicely carbonated, but a little thin on the palate. Very drinkable and it packs a punch. If it were a touch less expensive, it would make for a great session beer.

Brown-amber pour, thick tan head, and nice lacing. Warming aroma of raspberries and grapes with a sweet, heavy malt and yeast scent. Solid mouth feel that seems earthy. Creamy with a mild finish. Dark fruits and lots of musty yeast. Licorice, molasses, and other gritty sugary treats. Flavor finishes with a hint of banana. Made for a real tasty night cap.

Poured from the bottle into a trappist glass. The beer was a very dark brown color with a copper tint. It had a huge, creamy-bubbly tan head with great retention and a lot of cling on the glass. The aroma is a mixture of a caramel, fruity malt blend, with some earthy and grainy hops; hard to pick out the fruits, maybe some raisin and banana. The taste is initially sweet, and some fruity flavors are present, but quickly gives way to a more harsh, bitter flavor. A foamy, lively mouthfeel, with a slightly creamy effect. Not a ton of feel in the mouth, with a somewhat thin texture, and somewhat dry with a slight alcohol tingle at the end.

Pours copper, beige head. Aroma yeasty, dark fruits, hoppy. Taste, high carbonation, yesaty, dark fruits (cherry / raisin) dry sour finish with light tingly feel on palate.

A darl belgian dubbel tasting like a dark chech lager you say? Yes! In the beginning I didn’t think of it, but as I drank it one of my friends noticed it - and he was right. Nice color, nice bottle, but in the end a tad thinnish.

Bottle. Dark amber. Huge head, can’t even pour whole bottle no matter how slowly. Initial aroma is pure banana. Dark malt and then grape and yeasty aromas come through but banana dominates. Some tartness. Extremely high carbonation, acidic bite...not very pleasant. Taste is sour with light malt flavors and hints of syrupy fruits. Does not improve much. Not impressed.

Unfortunately, this one does not stand up to the world class dubbels despite being from Belgium, I would have expected something better from the makers of Gulden Draak and Piraat. It is still a decent beer and was not totally disappointed, just will not race to the store to get it again. It kind of tasted like an alchoholized Dr. Pepper with prickley carbonation. Next up 100 ratings, so what will I drink, hmmmm?