Westmalle Dubbel

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

Serve in Trappist glass

Damn what a great Dubbel! I’m not sure why I waited so long to finally try this one but I’m glad I eventually did. The flavor is a nice balanced combo of sweet malts and dark fruits. Has a slight grape flavor that mixes very well with the malts. Pretty delicious brew.

A beautiful dark brown beer, with a nice white head. Very good balanced flavour, sweet and fruity with a mild bitter finish. A heavenly brew. (Bottle 33cl)

Bottled on 5/13/2008 - tasted on 6/21/2009. Pours a small, light tan head. Aroma of plums, dried fruit, and rye bread. Tastes of complex dark fruits, raisins, tempered with a slight balsamic note. Finishes slightly dry. A well composed, delicious beer. Given its age and distance this bottle traveled, it was surprisingly unmolested, and matured quite nicely.

Smells of apples, pretty strong. Nice dark transparent amber hue. unsuppressable golden white head. good lacing. Taste is less acerbic as the aroma, which is good. Distinguishing characteristics of this beers flavor are somewhat more subtle than other dubbels, besides a nice bit of sour apple fading into a light bitterness in the end. There is a nice earthy bitterness to it. I feel that this is a dubbel that a dubbel lover would love for its adherence to simple dubbel standards. Yum. nothing too extreme here, just simple pleasure.

Pours murky reddish brown with a 1 finger (in a chalice) chunky beige head. Aroma is overripe fruit, apples, fresh plums, caramel, toasted sweet wheat bread, honey, pepper, fresh grapes, some sweet grain, dusty cereal grain and cola. Flavor is musty grain, sweet grain, caramel, sticky sweet apple sauce, some dark fruits, creamed corn, raisin, some sweet bread spices, some mineral, a little cider vinegar, a little roast, fresh wheat bread crust, whole walnut, and salty asparagus. Finish is more salty asparagus, balsamic notes, some dark fruit and a hint of hop bitterness. Palate is medium body with a slightly syrupy entry, becoming progressively drier until it comes to a moderately dry finish. Not really as good as I remember it and with some odd flavor notes... I will have to re-rate in the future.

Deep brown and cloudy with a huge head. Musty and old aroma of plums and cardboard. Good palate, with the usual alcohol-like trappist flavor, and also some plum and woody characteristics

Bottle. Aroma of sweet, darkish fruits, murky, musty yeast, light maltiness. Flavor basic sweet fruits and Belgian yeastiness, pretty basic-seeming at this point. Solid, but didn’t find anything super special here.

Bottle. Pours a cloudy brown with a thick light tan head. Aroma of sweet malt, sweet fruits (applesauce and fig), some cola-like notes. Flavor of bitter hops initially with lots of malt and sweet fruits, even some soda-like notes. Hmm, not what I expected from the #2 dubbel in the world. The flavor is bland and the palate a touch heavy. I would have liked more fruity notes or spices....oh well. 7/4/6/3/14 (3.4/5)