Westmalle Dubbel

Brewed by Brouwerij der Trappisten van Westmalle
Style: Abbey Dubbel
Malle, Belgium

Serve in Trappist glass

Took my time for this one. It is more or less my default trappist, the benchmark I put other trappist beers against. Where I grew up, on Sundays you would see people drinking this beer almost everywhere, often -blasphemy!- with grenadine syrup, a "tradition" that luckily is dying out.
Dark brown colour, reddish brown glow. Firm beige creamy head. Aroma of malts, dried fruits, spicy yeast and a touch of candy sugar. Flavour is rather sweet. Malty, dried fruits, molasses, only very slight hops, yeast, spices (cloves and light liquorice), surprisingly dry for such a sweetish hefty beer. Some burnt malts bitterness in the finish. Very enjoyable.
(At home, from 33cL bottle. For my 222nd rating)

33 cl bottle. Pours a light cola brown with a very big very light tan head that sticks around for a long time and leaves a lot of lacing on the glass. The aroma is raisin, plum, some light licorice, some spicy yeast, and very light alcohol. The initial taste is raisin and plum. This then goes into some very light molasses with some spicy yeast on the finish. No alcohol in the taste. Pretty dry overall. Light body. Medium carbonation. Overall a very enjoyable beer.

Pours dark ruby brown with big white head, which dissipates to a small white head. Excellent bubbles and lacing as with tripel. Nose is very good. Not quite as complex as Orval but has the same sweet perfumed sherbert overtones. Dominant aromas are stewed plums, prunes and raisins. Taste is slightly underwhelming after aroma, but is a nice balance of prunes, raisins, chocolate and a bit of sweet bitterness on the finish. Grows on the tongue as you drink it revealing new harmonies. Also have to say this would be a fantastic food accompaniment to stewed meat with dark fruit like stewed beef and prunes or Moroccan lamb tagine.

330 ml bottle thanks to weihenweizen, pours a murky brown with a fizzy off white head, aroma is sweet with notes of dark fruit mixed in with a hint of booze, the flavor is very sweet with caramel and raisin, has a fizzy dry finish, pretty good stuff.

bottle at Fire: Pours hazy, reddish amber. fizzy, carbonated sand head. Jack Daniels, fruit punch, plum, dates on the nose. T- Ripe plums, esters, dates. light body with high carbonation. Astringent finish. Dry and refreshing.

Reddish brown with a large head. Lots of mixed dried fruits, raisins, some chocolate, brown sugar and a slight spiciness. Initially sweet but goes over to show some acidity and ends rather dry.

Westmalle Dubbel, sampled on draught. Colour was dark brown to red. Head was white with big and small bubbles. Aroma has darker fruits, kandy sugar and barley. Loads of herbs present as wel as some plums, blackberries and raisins. Flavour is bitter fresh, with a small start of sweetness. Looks great, really bubbly in it’s original glass. Mouthfeel is subtle and well balanced.

Bottle 33 cl from Systembolaget Passagen, Stockholm. Poured dark copper wit reddish tones in colour and creamy tan head. Quite malty and boozy aroma but weet, slightly burnt brown sugar and dark fruits fortunately takes over in aroma. Flavour a bit bitter with dried dark fruits and sweet malty notes pushing through. Very pleasant aftertaste.