 Old_Mr_Crow (1004), Seattle, Washington, USA
Sep 18, 2006 Updated: Sep 19, 2006
Bottle.
Pours a clear burnt orange with a passable off-white head. The aroma is cloves and lemon, spicy, some toffee.
Flavor is thin diet cola blended with banana Nestle Quick. (OK, it’s not actually as bad as that description makes it sound, but both of those flavors are strong elements of the profile). There’s some cinnamon and other spice in there too;
I sure don’t get the ratings that this one is pulling. Many raters that I trust, respect, and usually agree with have given this 3.8 or higher, with plenty of 4’s out there. Almost of all of those ratings were 2003 or earlier; this bottle is a 2006. Either this beer has gone to the dogs since then, or I’ve really got my head in the wrong place tonight.
goldbrew (89), USA
Aug 19, 2008 Beautiful lingering bright head and dark wood, almost mahogany-dark cherry view from the glass. Full bready taste, a bit less intense than a La Trappe Dubbel for instance.
Maddog (108), Kettering, Ohio, USA
Aug 16, 2008 Bottle from Whole Foods in Brentwood, MO. A fantastic beer. Truly, my favorite of the usual New Belgian beers. A very noble attempt at the Belgian style. Sweet, malty with big yeast flavors with hints of spice. Abbey is medium bodied with a mouthful of flavor and complexity, a deep amber color and a big, chunky head.
BenDover (93), Ohio, USA
Aug 6, 2008 Pours a nice mahogany, about an inch and a half of thick, dense off-white foam. Smells bready/yeasty, a bit of nutmeg, sweet. Taste is like you’d expect from a dubbel but with a bit of a metallic start to it. A really good dubbel, but not great.
Homer321 (63), Rockledge, Florida, USA
Aug 5, 2008 pours a dark but rather clear brown. smell is of malt sweetness and caramel. not much spiciness in the nose but it comes across in the first taste. lacks orange-y aroma and bananas like the trippel.
jstek (5), USA
does not count  Jul 27, 2008 Pretty good. Really liked the aroma, but tastes a bit weak for the style. Still, it’s a lot cheaper than the real Belgians, so it makes for a good session beer or a good introduction to more complex beers for neophytes.
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