Pours nicely. No head. Mild nose. Nice tangy profile mixed with a mild dough edge. Full and consistent ride. Smooth feel. A very good American interpretation of this style. Had this and many others at Mugs Belgian shindig and this was clearly the winner for me.

Draught at EBF on 2/10/07
I didn’t find all the breadiness/over-yeastiness of this. There’s definitely a bit of yeast fluff, and light doughiness, but it seems to be expected from a strong Belgian ale of this sort and dosent seem any thing out of the ordinary from Smutty’s other Belgian beers. Not sure if they used Chouffe yeast, but I honestly like it better than a Chouffe beer, which I find almost sterile in their cleanliness. Perfume and lots of honey in the nose and flavor, with light biscuits and a bit of vanillin. Marmalade-like hops arent overdone, but seem to be more flavorful and less bitter than in the original dobbelen. All of the acidity that I find to be fatiguing in that beer is not as present here either. Carbonation is very high, making the texture light and easy to drink. Alcohol is well-concealed. The malt could stand to be more complex and some spicy/perfuminess gets a bit too much, but I think this is every bit as good, though for some different reasons, than Chouffe dobbelen on draught.

Draft @ Coles in Buffalo. Golden yelow body without much of a head. Sweet aroma is yeasty, and lightly fruity. Light soapy notes as it warms up? (7+) Sweet pale malt up front in the flavour,while the finish becomes quite dry with fruit accented alcohol that becomes a bit boozy at times. Average to medium palate. Very nice. It is on the simple side but it is very good. 8/3/7+/3+/16

Tap at blind tiger. Also had this at EBf and didnt like it all then, but it seems to have progressed and turned into more of a chouffe beer which is nice. Pours a fizzy deep muddled dark gold, orangey yellow with an initial head, but fades to almost nothing. Aroma is straight up chouffe/ardennes yeast, spciy hops, and grassy with some herbal and light phenolic notes. Swweet bready malt flavor with more phenolics and clove- lots of grassy hops and a nice somewhat clean bitterness. Ok overall, but seems to be getting better with a bit of time on it.

Draft @ Mugs Alehouse. Poured a hazed orange-amber color with an off-white head. The aroma was sweat and fruity with notes of oranges and bananas. Sweet malt base. The flavor had notes of toasted malt, sugar and fruit. Some spice. Medium bodied with a mild bitterness and light alcohol bite.