“The Little Brewing Company’s Mad Abbot range of ales are produced in the style of the Trappist monasteries of Belgium. These ales are bottle conditioned resulting in yeast sediment in the bottle, and undergo careful cellaring before release. They are made with finesse in true Belgian style with alcohol content well hidden beneath the complex flavour. The Mad Abbot Dubbel is a dark, rich, luxuriously strong ale”.
I recall a brief yet enjoyable visit to this brewery in Port Macquarie (NSW) some years ago now and remember trying this exact beer and thinking, wow this is a tasty drop. I’m sure it will be the same. Served in a tulip glass the murky brown pour produced a 1 and a half finger beige head that slowly collapsed to a collar with reasonable lace. Like all good Belgian dubbels, this one comes with big viscous overtones of caramel and sticky toffee. Hints of spice, rum & raisin, licorice, nougat, brown sugar and sourdough are all here to be enjoyed as well. Just superb, as good aroma as you would expect from any Belgian Dubbel. In the mouth the texture was quite creamy and full bodied with medium carbonation. The palate opens up with rich, chewy flavours of dark fruits, caramel and rum while the the mid displays roasty elements and subtle spice. To finish it off are sweet, caramelised notes of toffee, brown sugar and raisin which are boosted by a subtle booze sting (6.9% ABV) in the tail. Just as I remembered it, we both feel this is as good as any Belgian Dubbel on the shelves. Brilliant attempt at a very intricate and complex style of brewing that has to be respected. Big ups.