Chimay Premier

Premier is an easy-drinking Dubbel with subtle hints of brown sugar, plums, and clove. As I drank I thought that it might be my favorite Dubbel. However, I fear that my preference for the style is well under control. Too much clove perhaps.

Rating = 4 glasses.

Abbey Ale

Brewer: Ommegang

Style: Dubbel

Tasting notes: (1105) Fruity, spicy, complex and interesting but not my cup of tea. Downgraded from 5. May be better w/ age or on draft. (1103) A 12 oz. bottle recently purchased from TWB. Fruity, yeasty, clove, cinnamon?, burgundy?. Downgraded from 6 glasses and thought about 4. (1012) On draft @ CAH. Fruity, yeasty, a tiche of clove, and a dose of hops. Very nice. (1005) A bottle @ Belga Cafe. Good but not as great as I remembered. Downgraded from 7 glasses. (0910) A 1-year old bottle. Deliciously complex: malt and dry and a tiche of sour and bitter and burgundy wine and yeasty. Upgraded from 6. Ages wonderfully. Click here for a previous review.

Previous ratings: 4, 6, 7, 6 and 5 glasses

Rating: 5 glasses

Dubbel

Brewer: Allagash

Style: Dubbel

Tasting notes: (0909) Reminded me of a good lager. Clean and quaffable mix of malt w/ hop bite. Went great w/ flank steak w/ brandy and shallot reduction. Click here for a previous review.

Rating: 4 glasses

Prior 8

Beer: Prior 8 Brewer: St. Bernardus Style: Dubbel Tasting notes: (0907) Wonderful: root beer, complex, quaffable, nice deep bite at end. A great beer. Went gr8 w/ flank steak. May rate 7 glasses. Top 100: 29 December 2005 (not 10 March 2007 or 12 July 2009). Rating: 6 glasses

Ommegang Abbey Ale

Beer: Abbey Ale

Brewer: Ommegang

Style: Dubbel

Tasting notes: (0906) A bottle from 0809. Ditto and delicious. (0906) Bottle @ Belga Cafe. Complex. Flashes of wheat, chocolate, burgundy, sour and funk. Great w/ venison. (0805) Split 750 w/ Oleg. Delightful, complex taste. A flash of brown sugar followed by a dry, sour bite with hints of funk and Burgundy wine. Upgraded from 4 glasses. (0610): 12 oz. at Avalon. Complex taste. Cinnamon? Burgundy wine? Well crafted but I tired of it at end. (I was being rushed.) (????) Had one bottle long before writing this review. My memory my be off but my recollection is that I thought it was quite tasty. However, I was not inspired to buy another. Perhaps Hennepin eclipsed it.

Comments: (0802): BeerAdvocate changed style from Belgian Strong Dark Ale. I think that dubbel is correct.

Rating: 6 glasses

Allagash Dubbel Reserve

Beer: Dubbel Reserve

Brewer: Allagash

Style: Dubbel

Tasting notes: (2) Improves w/ age. Quaffable mix of complex malt and hop bite. May rate a 5. (1) A bottle from a 4-pack. Caramel and malt w/ some bite at end. Good, pleasant and quaffable.

Rating: Recommended with qualifications

Dubbel

Dubbel has twice the malt of a "single". Dubbels are dark malty beers and pair well w/ food.

Inventory

My inventory increased over Thanksgiving. Both parents visited beer stores to purchase something that they thought I might like. They succeeded. I brought home a 6-pack of Troegs Mad Elf Ale, 750 ml of Ommegang Abbey Ale, and a bomber of Stone Arrogant Bastard Ale.

I described Mad Elf Ale in an earlier entry. Visit the Label for Troegs. This six will head to the cellar. I already have 5 bottles in hand and it should age well.

Ommegang Abbey Ale is an excellent example of a Dubbel. Visit the Label for Dubbel for more information.

Stone Arrogant Bastard is Strong Ale. I describe it as Barleywine on steroids. It has a deep, dark husky flavor. Reviewers on BeerAdvocate rated it as one of the top 100 beers on the planet on 29 December 2005. This bottle is heading to the cellar to see what happens to it in 2 years. Visit the Label for Strong Ale for more information on it.