Westmalle Dubbel

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

Serve in Trappist glass

Very dark brown color. Large head, foamy and rich. Aromas are malts, fruity, hint of banana, plums, yeasts and brown sugar. A medium bodied dubbel. Malts are rich and fruity, with chocolate and toffee tones. Yeasty and malty. Nicely balanced. A surprisingly dry dubbel. The dryness balances and highlights the fruity sweetness. Interesting effect. Mouthfeel is full and round. Finish is dry. Aftertaste is slightly sweet.

Bottle (330ml). Shared with blankboy at Smokeless Joe. Very nice, but had it after the St. Bernardus and didn’t dig it as much. Poured bubbly amber-brown with some yeasties, a light tan creamy head. Aroma of apples and other tree fruits, hops, some mild brown sugar roast malt (fairly sweet). Taste follows the roast/apple nose, but there’s bitterness here too - some hops and almost crushed appleseed astringency. Mouthfeel is quite sweet/bitter balanced for an abbey dubbel, a tad thin, but very nice. An excellent brew, but didn’t do it for me as much as most of its competitors.

Bottle from Wine Warehouse in Charlottesville. Borisz, I wish I shopped in your local grocery store! Pours cloudy orangish-brown with frothy head. Slightly sour aroma of citrus and pine, with some dark fruits. Taste is smooth, with raisins, toffee. Taste is somewhat bland and the beer seems thin. Disappointing.

UPDATED: MAR 25, 2010 Luxurious deep brown body capped with a creamy, marbled tan head. Grainy white sediment. Caramel and a surprising waft of Burton sulphur in the nose make me want to plunge right in. Sweet toffeeish maltiness balanced with some sourish, chocolate yoghurt notes. A distinctly hoppy, Orval-like dryness also. Yes, that’s right, sweet, sour AND bitter. And wickedly drinkable. Was saving a Rochefort 10 to initiate me into the 100 club, but this is more than worthy of the honour. A very sexy Dubbel. (Re-rate, 22/01/08) Was expecting to have to down-rate this slightly, but not a bit of it. Aroma and general yeastiness sourish, darkly fruity and slightly biting. A ringer for Westies 8 and 12. Sourish chocolate-smooth nuttiness, wholemeal, robust hop bitterness... and a lingering waft of freshbread in the aftertaste. Still top 10 material. (Another re-rate) Cannot be contained by karmeliet chalice. Blossoming yellow-beige over mahogany; nose noble, blood, choc yoghurt, hazelnut, biting yeastines like Westy. Poetically noseworthy with a complexity of bubblegum, cherry, alcohol, banana.Wincing, almost menthol hops and CO2 if you over-inhale. And you must. Mmm. 9. Flavour opens with blood, nuts, chocolate, freshly risen bread, hop cheesecake, nuts again, marzipan. Well integrated,very shrubby Germanic hop. There’s a hair’s breadth between this and Westy 8, and either could edge it on its day. Top 10 every time.

UPDATED: JAN 26, 2005 Deep, dark murky color. The head was huge and slightly off-white. Aroma has peaches, cinnamon, bubblegum, alcohol and a little yeast. Decent lacing. The alcohol is present in the flavor with some apple and lemon tartness. A little saltiness came through. Finishes with pepper and some deep port wine. I didn’t notice the sweetness that others had.

Pours murky deep ruty red with tan head. The aroma is full of dark fruity esters, brown sugar and yeasty spiciness. It smells smooth and silky. The taste isn’t nearly as smooth as the prickly carbonation tends to erupt across my palate delivering notes of brown sugar, sweet prunes, ripe cherries and over ripe peaches. Under the fruitiness is a pleasing level of caramel candy coupled to modest amounts of yeasty spiciness. Solid stuff.

I prefer this to the Triple - the alcohol doesn’t overwhelm.

On tap at Cafe Trappisten, Westmalle. A beautifull dark brown beer is poured in the Westmalle trappist glass. Thick beige head. Dark fruits and chocolate in the aroma. Hints of yeast. Flavour is dark fruits, bread, prunes and a good malty sweetness.