Brooklyn Abbey Ale

Formerly brewed at Brooklyn Brewery
Style: Abbey Dubbel
Brooklyn, New York USA

Serve in Trappist glass

Draft at the Drafting Room, Exton. Pours amber with aroma of fruit, candi sugar, malt. Tastes slightly Belgian alish and slightly hefeish, with a good complexity. Definite chocolate and figgy element as it warmed. It is a tad light on the palate, but very smooth.

Draught sample at EBF05. Pours a light brown with some deep auburn tinges to it and a firm light tan head. Aroma of candi sugar, bubble gum, bananas and light hops. Flavor is fairly simple, sweet residual sugars play with bubble gum and a good dose of caramel sweetness, while a restrained Belgian yeast character adds light complexity. Finish is sweet, a touch doughy, with light hops bitterness and more caramel and banana or perhaps, caramelized bananas. Smooth, even, medium-full body with no traces of wateriness. Well-made on all levels, a bit sweet and uncomplex, but I enjoyed it.

XBF05: Dark orange/red with a small white head. Sweet lilght fruits in the aroma, starts and ends sweet, medium bodied with lively carbonation.

Tap at the Extreme Beer Fest. Dark amber color. Aroma of cloves, cinnamon, bubble gum, spices. Yeasty body, solid medium body, same flavor as in the aroma, plus some lemony citrus, chocolate. Not quite as sweet as some other dubbels, but for me, this is a good thing.

On tap at the Brooklyn Brewery. Aroma was fruity but kind of faint. Taste was full, slightly toasted, yeasty and enjoyable. Foamy quick dissipating head with a nice lacing. Palate full of flavor and finished nicely with the bitterness of the hops lingering nicely at the back of the mouth.

UPDATED: JAN 19, 2005 Nice classic Belgian Dubbel appearance and full yeasty aroma. I enjoyed the natural sugar sweetness mixed well with the malts. spice and yeasty flavor. Medium bodied, I think it could stand up to other true Belgian dubbels. It sure beat out a certain NJ’s brewery’s Abbey Dubbel side by side in my opinion, and I hold the NJ brewery’s Dubbel in high esteem.

Poured brown with a golden hint. Aroma was sweet with hints of raisins and other dark fruits and alcohol. Flavor was sweet and fruity....with raisins, apple, and even some banana. Light to medium bodied. I will need to try this again though. the keg had arrived just a few hours earlier and it was a little too warm and slightly under carbonated.

A real treat to get a significant sample of this amidst a beer & chocolate tasting
What happens when you mix the chocolate character of Westmalle and the date and fig character of Chimay Red? The answer is...Brooklyn Abbey. The tobacco and apple elements add just the complexity to cover the fault of this being a little thin (as others have stated). Pleasurable nonetheless.