Westmalle Dubbel

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

Serve in Trappist glass

UPDATED: MAR 21, 2010 Bottle. Cloudy and opaque brown color with a beige head that stays. The smell is very nice: fruity with hops and malts. Very well balanced taste from start to finish... complex but mellow. Excellent beer.

UPDATED: OCT 31, 2010 tasted at the mondiale de la bière in Montréal. pours a deep brown with a long lasting brown head. aroma is sweet, dark fruits mainly plum, alcohol, and a bit vinous. taste is complex. sweet, malty, lots of caramel, and finishes with a bread type flavour. an unbelievable beer.

a great Abbey Dubbel beer. beautiful soft nutty aroma .creamy flavour with intense caramel notes .

UPDATED: APR 12, 2004 Oh my God, nearly a perfect beer. Its a perfect balance of fruity malt flavors and a firm and pleasant hop base. Lightly dry. The malt/hop balance is as noticeable in the aroma as it is in the flavor. Dark ruby-red tinted brown. <P> Years later, an update, and how interesting how things have stayed the same: my main note from the new fresh tasting is that this beer is exquisitely balanced. The sweetish almost nutty malt flavors mingle with a lightly hopped dry finish, all the while swimming with the lightest phenols (banana) and no alcohol presence whatsoever. Maybe its not distinctive, but its a great beer that does not draw attention to itself. I'm lowering my numbers from 4.8 only because I think the original score was a tad too high, not because my opinion of it has dropped.

aroma vs. appearance: the beauty and the beast, bitter fruit that goes on forever, it leaves your mouth feeling like silk, this beer left me speechless briefly until I slowly started mumbling to myself, huge fan!

At first glance, I thought this was a glass of root beer. Very large bubbles throughout, and a thick, creamy, tan head. The aroma reminded me of lemon zests (rinds), and almost a odd cleanser-like (pine-sol) smell. Very smooth considering how bubbly it is. The taste is very subdued, with subtle hints of citrus (orange, lemon, tangerine?), spices and a root beer aftertaste. Toward the finish a bitter-sweet taste that is reminiscent of hops evolves. Different, and good. Possibly my favorite trappist, and far superior to its Westmalle Trippel cousin.

Pours a cloudy dark reddish brown with a huge amount of froathy tan head that stays for a very long time. Also lots of very small carbonation bubbles that continually rise from the bottom. The aroma is not as strong as in other belgians I’ve tried. This one is much softer and sweeter with dried fruit and an alcohol undertone. I found it to be very nice and not too yeasty or spicy. The flavor is smooth and dominated by caramely malts but also has nice undertones of fruits and a tiny bit of yeast. It really is a much "smoother" dubbel than many I’ve tried and it has a nice woody nutty finish. I personally found it very enjoyable as I don’t always like something too aggressive tasting. This was smooth and warming which was perfect for a cool summer night. Overall, a must try.

Poured in a tulip glass, exhibits a cloudy almond color with little yeast floaties. Thick tan head which stuck around throughout the beers fragile lifespan (around me, anyway!) Initial flavor positively explodes in the mouth. Tons of llcorice, bubble gum, and other candy sweetness. Above expectation hop bitterness is absolutely brilliant. The alcohol warmth melds with the hops and sticks to the tongue. Sweet, malty, and one of the best damn beers I have ever had the pleasure of sipping.