Archive for the category “Dubbel”

21 Jan 2014

Coming Home 2013 – Grand Teton Brewing Company

CHHA13-bottle7.5% ABV
Purchased at Capitol Beer and Tap Room and poured into goblet glasses.

This year’s Grand Teton winter seasonal is brewed in the style of a Belgian dubbel, and it pours a burnished gold with a tight, dirty white head.  The sweet nose offers fairly standard-for-the-style aromas of dark fruit, Belgian candied sugar, red apple, and a little caramel and butterscotch.  Toffee and caramel flavors take the lead on the first swallow, backed up dark fruits, and fading into an unexpected crispness on the finish that makes Coming Home 2013 lighter than a classic Belgian dubbel.  A little bit of spice comes in on subsequent sips, but it mostly holds the sweet fruit and toffee flavors throughout, indicating this beer would be a compatible mate with non-chocolate desserts.

toasts-3.5   3.5 Toasts

ComingHome2013toasts-3.5   3.5 Toasts

Posted in 3-4 Toasts, Beer Review, Dubbel, Seasonal and tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment
06 Aug 2013

Page 24 Brune – Brasserie Saint-Germain

page-24-brune_bttl7.9% ABV
Purchased through Rare Beer Club and poured into oversize wine glasses.

This brown “biere de garde” – really an abbey-style dubbel – comes from Brasserie Saint-Germain, based in the north of France, near the border of Belgium.  Page 24 Brune pours a deep walnut brown with a sand-colored head that makes up in integrity what it lacks in volume.  The curious and enticing nose boasts raisins, chestnuts, berries, and a hint of the grape vine.  Delicious toffee, nuts, and dark fruits welcome on the first swallow, with a little bit of tartness entering the finish courtesy of the raisin and wine grape flavors.  More roasted nuts come in as the beer settles on the palette, along with a caramel-y yeastiness and a little farmhouse spice.  Brasserie Saint-Germain has brewed an exemplary dubbel with a balanced but complex blend of flavors.

toasts-4.5    4.5 Toasts

Page24Brune

toasts-4   4 Toasts

 
Posted in Beer Review, Biere de Garde, Dubbel and tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment
30 Oct 2012

Otto Ale – Victory Brewing Company

8.1% ABV
Purchased at Pangaea Bottle Shoppe ($10.49/25.4 oz. bottle) and poured into mason jar glasses.

This abbey dubbel/rauchbier hybrid from Pennsylvania-based Victory Brewing Company pours a date-like ruby brown with a tight, off-white head.  The strong and distinctive nose offers plenty of wood smoke and cured and dried meats, along with some coy touches of dried fruit and airy grass.  Smoke and cured meats also dominate the palette, mostly in the vein of pepperoni and salami, and the first swallow offers a nice bite if you like smoky beers.  Its abbey influences are revealed with a healthy dose of dates and juicy raisins on the aftertaste, preventing the smokiness from overwhelming the tongue.  Otto has a nice mix of sweet, smoky, and savory flavors and an unimposing mouthfeel, but adjust your ratings accordingly depending on your preference for smoked brown beers.

    4 Toasts

   3.5 Toasts

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27 Feb 2012

Sanctuary (Full Sail Brewing)

7% ABV
Purchased at Total Wine and More ($3.99/22 oz. bottle) and poured into goblet glasses.

His Notes:

Full Sail’s version of the Belgian dubbel pours a cloudy orange with a very slight off-white head and a nose of apples, candied yeast, caramel, and spices.  It presents a warm mix of toffee and dark fruits on the palette, with a surprisingly tart and smoky character to the aftertaste.  Sanctuary is less rich and bitterer than you would expect from a beer advertising itself as a dubbel, without much of the anticipated taste of candied yeast. However, the hickory-smoked malt flavor makes this beer uniquely pleasing on its own terms.

  3.5 Toasts

Her Notes:

  4 Toasts


Posted in Beer Review, Belgian, Dubbel and tagged , , | Leave a comment
10 Jan 2012

Lost and Found (The Lost Abbey)

8.0% ABV
Purchased at BevMo ($7.99/25.4 oz. bottle) and poured into tulip glasses.

His Notes:

Lost and Found pours a ruddy, raisin brown with an insubstantial, light brown head, and smells of sour fruit, sweet wood, and a prominent yeastiness.  The taste is heavy on fruits and a mature sourness, but there is also a solid ale backbone.  Although the bottle advertises this brew as “Ale Brewed With Raisins”, the raisin taste is not especially notable upfront, only barely peaking through the bitter-sour aftertaste.  This tastes like a barrel-aged beer, most likely with wild yeast added, and the contribution of the raisins is probably towards the earthy, textured mouthfeel.  The flavor profile is filled with complexity – some Dubbel-like features, hop bitterness, chewy yeast, back-end sourness – that rises and falls in waves across the palette.   Lost and Found does seem to go flat pretty quickly, yet it’s too heavy for anything more than slow sipping and moderate consumption.

   3 1/2 Toasts

Her Notes:

   3 1/2 Toasts


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