De Graal Dubbel

Brewed by De Graal
Style: Abbey Dubbel
Brakel, Belgium

Bottle, 6.5%. Medium gusher. The aroma is a bit weak, but malty and sweetly roasted, perhaps biscuity. Cloudy dark chestnut colour, small tan head. The flavour is also roasted, but not very clean. Watery finish. The finish also has a little rough bitterness. All in all decent.

Fijne Dubbel met heel veel smaak. Alleen zit er een bijzonder geurtje aan.

Bottled. Rubyish brown colour with big fluffy beige head. Aroma is nutty, mild fruityness, herbal and also some slight rubbery/metallic notes lurking in the background. Flavour is red berries, some malts, yeastyness and mild spicyness. As it gets warmer it gets some mild roasted notes as well as some mild alcohol.

330ml bottle (One Pint Pub, Helsinki, Belgian Beer Week 2008)
Reddy brown, thin head. Massive ribena waft at first, but then nutty and husky. Taste is unexpected - dry burnt malt - not the full-bodied sweet malt flavour I’d expect for a dubbel. Some wineyness and sweetness later. Also a raw grain taste. Bitter nutty finish. Pressed my buttons, but not as a dubbel, this is closer to a stout!

Smallish offwhite head. Hazy amber body with fast carbonation. Fruity, yeasty wild berry aroma with yoghurty notes, somewhat artificial. Dry yoghurty wooden wild berry taste, again somewhat artificial. Mouthfeel a little watery. Aftertaste is much the same. Disappointing, and not really very enjoyable. (0.33l bottle at Cardinal.)

Bottle shared at Vale Brewery 31-01-08 Poured dark brown with off white frothy head, didn’t get to try much of this but what I did was most enjoyable, chocolate ran through this as did some vanilla, sweet malts on the nose, a tasty beer.

(33cl bottle) Hazy, bronze colour with a mid-sized, light-beige foamy head. Sweet, slightly yeasty and moderately toasty malt aroma with a touch of chocolate, also restrained fruity and quite spicy, partly ethereally (peppermint). Moderately sweet flavour, medium to full bodied with a medium carbonation. Yeasty, slightly toasted malty taste with notes of chocolate, spicy phenols and shy fruity notes; quite short, sweet-bitter and toasty finish. Likeable (29.01.08).

33cl bottle. Dark amber cloudy body with a nice puffy beige head. Bready nose with subttle tones of clove and caramel. A slight acid approach in mouth with some sweet roasted malts, and hops bitterness at the end that leaves a coffee-like aftertaste. Medium-high carbonation with a light body cause some effervescences that disturb the complexity of the flavors which is a pity. Could have been a good dubbel but is an underachiever because of that lack of body and a too high carbonation, the brewer should tone this down to make a more serious beer with less pops.