Captain Lawrence St. Vincents Dubbel

Batch 1. 750 ml bottle. Very clear light brown beer with a thick pillowy head. Aroma is excellent with a sweet and vineous character. Oaky and fruity with cherry, red grapes, bubble gum, clove and a bit of sweet rummy brown sugar character. Very fruity and practically oozes ripe berries (blackberry, cherry, strawberry). Some sweet bready malts that are both toasty and add a chewy palate to the brew. Flavour matches the aroma with sweet blackberry/blueberry character behind a spicy yeast character. Clove and allspice mixed with juicy fruit gum and a heavy wheaty spiciness. Full sweet palate, with raisins and plummy malts all contributing to the brews flavour. As the temperature comes up, a great fresh minty hop aroma/flavour comes up helping to soften all the sweet fruits and spices. This is a very fruity, but well-balanced and very tasty brew. One of the best I’ve had from this up and coming brewery. I can’t wait to try what else they have coming down the line.

750 ml bottle batch 2. Deep orange-tinted brown with a thick light tan head. Sweet plummy aroma, rye toast, wheaty spice and a lots of cherry and dried fruits. Orange peel, clove and lighter berryish notes. Flavour is sweet but shows lots of malty complexity. A soft earthy component as well. Some Belgian caramel, toffee, and sweet cherry/berry, plum fruitiness. Spicy finish with a touch more bitterness than I might normally expect in this style. Great balance of sweet malts and spicy yeastiness. Very bready on the back with a light hit of black pepper. 4 8 4 8 17

Out of a bottle generously shared at the brewery. Pours brownish with a white thin head. Smells of cloves, spices, and earthy hops. Tastes citrussy with sweet sugary undertones. Finishes nicely spiced and full.

Bottle: Pours a clear copper with a light tan head. Aroma, dark fruits, with some yeasty notes, leading to caramel and molasses. Flavor, fruity up front, followed by caramel and brown sugar, there is some citrus in the background with some light sourness, and a mild sweetness, kinda chewy on the palate, this stuff was really nice.

Big thanks to jjpm for this one. Jesus, after reading Clark’s review, I now know how the guy who takes his turn after John Holmes in a gang bang feels. Pours hazy deep brownish ruby, with 2-finger khaki head. Aroma of figgy fruit, cobwebby roast malt, brown sugar, vinous fruit, cacao, and some peaty cognacy notes. Very complex aroma. Tastes caramel malty, figgy, with notes of raisins, brown sugar, pepper, peaty cognac, cacao, caramel, grapes. Medium, very complex palate with a lively, well balanced mid-palate and finish.

Objectively speaking: An original dubbel that is just as captivating as their tripel.
I like: Gorgeous aroma. Incredible black grape concentration. Pure black grapes, seed included! I’ve never encountered the like in beer. Captivating cognac notions. Plummy. Very pleasant and perfumey. Juicy by its mere fruitiness. Gentle cherry notes in the background. Surprisingly growing bitterness, serving as a firm backbone and limiting the sweetness growth. Toasty. Cleansing carbonation, very active, almost biting. Tiny grap skin astringency.
I dislike: I loved it. That aroma is as idiosyncratic as it gets. I just did not find that it’s fruit intensity was as vibrant and vital in mouth and in terms of looks, some head would help.