Bornem Dubbel

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

Serve in Trappist glass

Bottled. Dark, reddish-brown, sparkling beer, with a lasting off-white head. Light caramel, malt and roastiness in the aroma. Candi-sweet flavor with caramel, spices and some roastiness. Light fizzy mouthfeel and alcohol and bitterness in the finish. An ok beer, but a bit too anonymous. (060422)

Dark, oak, cloudy pour with a substantial head. Aroma of spices with a spicy citrusy taste. Malty, but well balanced by the alcohol and carbonation. A bit tart, but still works well. A fine dubbel.

UPDATED: APR 26, 2006 Bottle sampled with Stegosaurus, pours brown with an off-white head. Aroma of spices, citrus, fruit, sweet malts, and alcohol. Flavor is sweet, fruit, and smooth.

UPDATED: MAR 20, 2008 Bottled. Hazy brown colour with mediumsized head. Aroma of caramel, malts and fruit. Also has some slight notes of alcohol lurking in the background. Flavour is caramellish, malty and toffeeish. Also some sweeness from fruits in the aftertaste. Good and wellbalanced.

Earthy, old rotting roots scents dominate the aroma. Hazy medium brown proposes ruby reflects and a smallish off-dimensioned bubbles cover that doesn’t last too long despite agressive carbonation. Thoughts derive toward powdered cocoa and old leaves, bark, licorice dark flavors that don’t feel too malty. Strongly metallic notes grow even stronger in mouth. Not necessarily thin, but the chaotic strong carbonation certainly comes in the way of the malt roundness. No alcohol flavor comes through, the palate hesitates between sweet and dry, very timid esters, never really developping the fruitiness I expected. Warming, its inherent tartness becomes stronger, herbal and vegetal/leafy/barky, eventually hinting at olives. Eewww, a really poor bottle I fell on hopefully, totally shy on its limited strenghts and growing expressive on its flaws. At 4$ a bottle, I would never consider buying this again, especially when there are plenty of smaller, more artisanal breweries around who’d do better stuff with my money.

Pictured bottle, but with a Black and Blue lable. Poured a dark plum-red with a cocais head. Lots of carb ub the nose. Nose is a straight forward leathered dark fruit and clove. Taste brings in some alchohol, and mellows out quickly to be as straightforward as the nose. Dark fruits, malts, clove and some banana, but nothing complex. Don’t expect to work too hard with this one. Somewhat of the Chimay Blue charachter but without the ample chewiness. I see SoLan covered the abomb like head on this thing. Might wanna pour it at a tilt.

From a capped stubby 330ml. brown bottle with what I am guessing is a coded lot/bottled/package number on the back label, 01FE. Made a good appearance, poured a cloudy red hued brown with a large fluffy, foamy beige head that very slowly settled into a creamy thin lacing, I believe this is what you call Brussels lacing, very good carbonation. Had a raisin fruity nose with a little herbal spiciness and whiffs of alcohol. A smooth, carbonated medium bodied mouth feel, above average drinkability. Carbonated tart, sweet fruity taste, a subtle herbalness, a mellow hop bitterness, a dry yeastiness showing up towards the end and a dry mildly tart fruity, malty finish. The carbonation does a good job of masking the alcoholic warmth. A decent Dubbel, mild tasting and drinkable, a little over carbonated in my opinion.

Dark brown/ruby. Ginormus, solid, light tan head. Carbonation so explosive I had to let it settle twice before emptying the 330 mL bottle. Left nice lacing each time. Aroma - banana bready yeast, dark fruits, rich malt, candi sugar, and hints of alcohol. Same flavors only turned way down in volume due to the excessive carbonation. Palate is foamy and creamy at the same time. Very nice dry, roasty banana bread yeast aftertaste with a touch of toffee, also. This brew has potential, but is still ridiculously over foamed even a half hour after opening. Appearance loses a point for making me pour three times.