La Trappe Dubbel

Brownish red with a creamy, albeit low, tan head. Malty aroma with chocolaty orange and some chilly freshness which might be hops or perhaps the winter cold messing with my nose. Mayybe also a hint of alcoholic spicyness... Although the alcohol doesn’t really shout at you it doesn’t feel very well masked. Not what I usually expect from an abbey that isn’t stronger than this. Feels fairly thin but roughly sweet, malty chocolate that has a bitter aftertaste is the main thing. Not sure about the hops but they do show, I think.

dark brown beer that pours with a bit of a disappoint head for a trappist beer. aroma is sweet and malty. flavor is sweet, needs more hops, and slightly spicy from the yeast. good palate. dissappointing for a trappist beer.

Round malt aroma is sweet without being cloying. Plenty of rich chocolate. Opaque rich brown body is topped by a low but lasting, fine bubbled, off white head. Chocolate and big malt sweetness are joined by a fairly pronounced bitterness. Piquant alcohol perks up the palate at the finish. Medium body with moderate carbonation. Sampled at Mondial 2006.

a dark brown..low-medium head...good good lacing...slight choc-yeast smell...nice flavours, and quite bitter for a dubbee...kind of unique and complex...went well with kaas (cheese). has a tad alcohol in taste, but very nice.

Bottle: Previous samples of the La Trappe range had me relishing the chance to exxamine another. Their Triple is one of my favourites of the style, however, it’s been quite a while since I have had a Dubbel like this. Dark mahogany to rust brown with a yellowy head that fizzed initially, but grudgingly decided to stay eventually. In the nose stewed prunes cames to mind first, further forays revealing some spicy cloves and cooling, medicinal alcohol notes over a banoffee thickness. This theme carries through flavour-wise, however, I have to admit, at a much lower standard. I got a immediate hit of banana cake and chewy, spicy tofee, and some pleasant bitter herb notes play nicely to begin, though by the end they grate somewhat. Quite breadlike in a way. I also found the carbonation a little over done and prickly.

A bit like a bock for me. Poured a virtually clear dark brown with a smallish head. Quite malty, with some molasses and licorice notes. A little fruitiness from the yeast, but not as much as I was expecting for a dubbel. On tasting some caramelly banana comes through pleasantly though. Sweetness is well restrained, but the bitterness dwells somewhat which, with a relatively thin body, seems to stick out like dogs balls. Different abv from the details above (7%) - seemed pretty well contained. Maybe they’ve changed more in the recipe than that?

BANANA!!! That is what i thought of this beer! The aroma is heavy with banana, and not so heavy with hops and malts. The flavor has easy touches of chocolate and caramel, but it never got as obvious as I hoped for. The banana is of course still represented during the rating of the flavor, but this time accompanied by some sourish notes. The beer has a good creamy caramellish and chocolate-full palate in the start, but it quickly turns watery and sourish, leaving the dreams of a Westmalle-Dubbel competitive beer, behind. The aftertaste is easily malty, with a lot of alcohol (actually too much, for a dubbel). It starts out really great, but ends up only above average.

Bottle at Pater’s Vaetje, Antwerpen. Dark chestnut brown with a rich, creamy yellowish head. Caramel and fruit aroma, but served a bit too cold to enjoy fully. Sweet caramel and raisins flavours. Medium body, fluffy mouthfeel. Lacking the punch of its stronger brothers it still provides decent complexity, if on the sweet side.