Hertog Jan Dubbel

Brewed by Arcense Bierbrouwerij (InBev)
Style: Abbey Dubbel
Arcen, Netherlands

Serve in Trappist glass

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Terra cotta jug from Morrisons Hawick. A VERY lively brew, cork flew off almost as soon as the cradle was removed. Extemely dark, with a big frothy off white head. The nose is lovely, big and malty, big complex flavours assault the tongue and linger for ages...a big malty finish, truly a class act

Aaahhh, I enjoyed this one. I don’t know whether it was the ceramic bottle and rustic label, the half litre serve or the nicely balanced sipping beer inside that won me over, but I did savour the moment to its fullest. Poured into a large chalice glass at just below room temperature. Opaque black body with brown coming through in the shallow of the glass and a sprinkling of yeast trapped in suspension. Head formed and dissipated back to a dense beige pad, lasted the length and left an abundance of lace. Dry and earthy cocoa and port-like nose with medicinal alcohol and yeast spices, tangy dark fruits and a hint of burnt malt. Quite wine-like in the mouth and full bodied, initial harsh carbonation waned quickly and the palate became soft, smooth and very dry. Plum-like aged fruits, peppery spices; dry, dark earthy malts, light bready yeast and only the lightest hint of alcohol just before a long warming, wine-like swallow. It wasn’t as full on as I had expected, but as it is the middle of winter here it did go down a treat. Nice, malty and warming, sipping beer. Got a few in the cellar now and I would like to see how they go after a few years. Disappointed that InBev are now in the driving seat, but it is just another brewery to be gobbled up by a tyrant. (500mL, 08/10/06, 7.3% ABV)

(Bottle 33 cl) This beer pretty much exploded out of the bottle when I removed the cap - oh my, what a shooter. So beware...
Very dark brown with a tall, creamy head. Malty and sweetish with a potent, full body. Huge sediment. 170302

Draught
Dark ruby, good brown head. A bit lemony, brown sugar in the aroma. Sweetish, sugary, liquerish palate. Not very strong and hides ABV completely. I heard that this is only available on tap at the brewery and at ’t Arendsnest in Amsterdam.

InBev, eh? Lovely terra cotta stone bottle from Open All Hours, Keswick. Fairly one dimensional brown ale within. Aroma of chocolate and malt, tasted artificially carbonated despite bottle conditioning.

Fluffy light brown head, unclear dark brown body. Dominating chocolate aroma with malt and a bit of spices also. Sweet and pretty full malt, chocolate and toffee flavor with some fruity tones hiding underneath. Tasty and easy drinkable, but quite harmless. Thanks Dalle for the bottle!

Best thing about this is the aroma. There’s not a lot of it, but it’s pleasantly malty. It has a fizzy head which is gone quicker than I can say rip-off. When it’s gone, this brew looks just like coke. Which is not a good sign in my book. It’s way too carbonated, which makes it harder for me to actually locate the flavor. And it also prickles on my tongue afterwards. There’s a weird tang of metal here. But underneath all this might be a bit of traditional dubbel-flavor. Unfortunately the over all experience is not pleasant.

I was supprised how dark this beer was. The taste is good .

The whole concept of presentation is an interesting one. The voting criteria does not lend itself to such a consideration and probably that is correct. but just as when you enter a restaurant that feels good and has the impression that the proprietors have tried hard, so fo you feel more inclined to be positive towards a bottle like this. Thankfully the contents don’t let you down either. The presentation in the glass is a deep copper colour with crisp head. There is a clear hint of cinnamon and cholcolate in the nose and I too detected a slight rumminess in the flavour. Not highly hopped but nor is this expected. Overall a pleasant experience which would hopefully be the case here as the price of $11 means that a visit to this establishment will not simply be when a thirst is rising in the old gullet.

Very dark, beautiful clay bottle, tan head, light spice and, possibly psychosomatic, a hint of clay. Milk chocolate and rum. Very mild though, I wouldn’t call it weak however. Flavour is distinctly earthy. Have to think about this one a bit I think, could go either way, for now going to say it’s different in a good way. Special points for bottle.