Westmalle Dubbel

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

Serve in Trappist glass

UPDATED: MAY 25, 2007 Brown colour with a smoth creamy head. Rich flavor of malt, chocolate, toffee and caramel.

Bottle. Pour is a handsome chestnut brown with a diminishing sandstone head. Nice Belgian floral nose. Malty, bready flavors at the beginning, with forest fruit flavors (fig and hazelnut) emerging, followed by toffee flavors in the finish. Medium bodied and remarkably well balanced.

Bottlr as well as draft. A very good beer. You should try the combination of 50% Double mixed with 50% tripple a very nice and smooth taste. This one is an option at the Trappist Pub across the brewerie. This combo is called Half om Half and is the only beer my sister drinks. You can have the beer now also in large bottle.

330cl bottle, marked 6/12/07. Pours a lovely clear russet-brown with minimal yet dense khaki head. Nose is full of berries, almost like blackberry jam, with a hint of oaky vanilla and fresh baked pastry. Not too thick on the palate, but creamy, with again more berries, some grainy biscuit, before the zesty herbal hops kick in, following through to the dry sherry finish, ending just slightly warm. A lovely, complex dubbel.

UPDATED: JUN 11, 2011 Bottle. Pours a very dark brown -- even a bit reddish. A bit of sediment at the bottom. Thin head disappeared fairly quickly. Aroma is pleasant: some sweetness, dark fruits. Flavor is lively and complex, but very drinkable: candy sugar sweetness, with some dark fruit (a little figgy?), soy sauce, a bit of yeasty sourness, and a touch of hoppiness. Ends pretty dry.

33cl Bottle from stystembolaget. Dark, murky brown with slight rosey tint. Big tan head that lasts til the end and laces the glass. Aroma is amazing - belgian yeast and tart fruit come rushing at you, followed by caramel and slight alcohol hanging back. Thick, full mouthfeel and medium carbonation coat your tongue. Flavor is sweet and malty, but bitterness perfectly controls things. more bitter in finish, but not out front. Hops become more pronounced as beer warms. One of my new favorite beers.

Small bottle. Reddish brown body, beautiful head with fine bubbles. Moderate yeasty aroma with dark fruits. Taste is dry and mellow with some caramel and pear. Finish has light chocolate. Very easy to drink.

Cloudy dark brown pour, thick head that lingers a while. Large bubbles in the head, but they’re mostly the same size, giving a non-random effect on the side of the glass. Malty sweetness on the nose. I can’t place what the sweetness remind me of other than Dr. Pepper, but it isn’t nearly that sweet. The bubbles in the beer itself are much smaller than I’d have guessed from the head (but maybe that’s where all the CO2 went). Good flavor, malt, maybe plum or a darker fruit but not what I would call fruity. The taste lasts a while, but doesn’t linger a long time. I really like it, though I’d love it more if the flavor exploded in your mouth rather than sliding in gracefully.