“Our Pied-à-Terre Belgian Dubbel is all about its Belgian roots. The combination of this style’s yeast and malts make for a complex flavors. We often have people describing the orange, banana or clove we must have used making this beer. NOPE! These are all characters born from the yeast, malts and hops.”
Served in a Trappist tulip. Crimson red in appearance with a short head that quickly retreats to a ring with minimal lace left in its wake.
The nose is delicate, slightly vinegary and slightly tart. Not a good sign early on in this beer. A vigorous twirl does uncover some hidden traditional aromas like raisin, plums, fruit cake and esters and thank goodness for that because if it wasn’t for the latter this would almost be a drain pour. Pretty underwhelming nose to be honest.
The mouth feel is oily, a little thin and again tart and vinegary. Just a slight hint of acidity which, for us, is not welcome in a dubbel. Mild body and mild-moderate Co2. Average at best.
Unfortunately we’re seeing those somewhat tart vinegary flavours showing upfront. It is at least hitting its mark with the sweet plummy notes but there’s just not enough bottom end…where’s the chocolate? Where’s the spice and the sugary/malty caramelization? Hardly any convincing flavour in the finish either – flat, insipid and dull. What a shame.
We’ll concede that dubbels are a very difficult style to master but the overall aroma and flavor was way off. Who knows, it may not have travelled well or it may not have been stored properly. Either way it wasn’t up to scratch.