Abbaye Des Sept Minutes II

Sold in simple and rusty 355mL cans, Abbaye Des Sept Minutes II is a Belgian-style dubbel. At 8%, the beer is a collaboration between Ottawa’s Tooth and Nail and Toronto’s Godspeed. It’s a dull ruby ale with a shock of cream-coloured suds.

Interestingly, AD7M II has an extremely mild aroma—subtle notes of brown sugar and a bit of yeasty tang. The flavour is a bit more boisterous, with notes of raisin, plum, and spice, underscored with a slight metallic jangle.

What AD7M II lacks in aromatics, it makes up for in subtle depth of flavour. This beer has a flavour that seems finely tuned and meticulous. The strength and appearance are perfectly to style, too. I’d have liked a richer bouquet, but otherwise, the beer met and slightly exceeded my expectations.

Rating: 8.0 out of 10.

Fancy Walker

 

A Belgian dubbel from the team at Eastbound Brewing Co., Fancy Walker is a 7.4% brew sold in 355mL cans. The copy declares the flavour elements are: “figs, brown sugar, dates”. The beer has a handsome ruddy brown colour and it pours with a thin layer of creamy suds.

Fancy Walker has a sweet, malty aroma that has sticky date and toffee notes. The flavour, too, is sweet and sticky. It has molasses, tobacco, and dried fruit elements, initially, and a considerable amount of roasted malt throughout. The beer does have some Belgian-style yeastiness, but it is pretty understated. Also, the booziness is fairly low-key.

I thought that Fancy Walker was a pretty solid take on the dubbel style. I’d have liked a bit more yeast emphasis, but otherwise, it was an enjoyable strong ale.

Rating: 8.0 out of 10.

Ricky and the Hendersons: Rube Goldbeer

Named in honour of both Rube Goldberg and the ingenious beer opening device that graces the wall behind the bar at Toronto's Henderson Brewing Co., Rube Goldbeer is described as a "Belgian-inspired strong ale". However, I'd class it as a dubbel. Sold in hefty 650mL bottles with a label that features a monk and the aforementioned bottle-opening machine, RG is an 8% alcohol concoction.

RG is clear, with a nice chestnut colour. It pours with a vivacious off-white head and has a malty, nutty aroma. The flavour is also extremely malty. It's sweet, with some raisin notes and a bit of a yeasty streak. As well, it tastes strong, as in boozy.

Rube Goldbeer was a pretty fair Ontarian take on a Belgian ale. It tasted quite nice, though nowhere near as funky as the Belgian equivalent. Still, I found it strong and satisfying, with a complex array of flavours.

Rating: 8.0 out of 10.

St. Benedict's Breakfast Dubbel

St. Benedict's Breakfast Dubbel came highly recommended by a beer seller in Greensboro, North Carolina. Brewed in Saxapahaw, NC by Haw River Farmhouse Ales, this juicy dubbel contains 7.2% alcohol. According to the info on the 500mL bottle, this Belgian-inspired brewski is made with flaked oats, cocoa nibs, dark Belgian chocolate, and two types of coffee beans sourced from Muddy Dog Roasting Company. All that and a cool label left me aching to crack it open.

My beer flowed out smoothly and with a nice dark brown hue. It poured with such a thick and vigourous head that I had to take a break halfway through pouring the stuff, lest I lose a precious drop. It's nose was sweet, rich, and malty, with elements of chocolate, coffee, and a tart whiff of fruit. The flavour proved to be extremely complex and layered, and a lot more like a porter than a dubbel. For one thing, the beer was not as far along the fruit sweetness spectrum than most of the dubbels I've sampled. As well, the addition of coffee and dark chocolate made for a more bitter ale than the Belgian and Belgian-style dubbels in my repertoire. The beer finished with a pretty decent hops profile, too.

Really a unique dubbel, St. Benedict's Breakfast wasn't a great exemplar of the style, but it was a fantastic beer! Rich and flavourful, with lots of nice ingredient flourishes, this beer left me deeply pleased and sated.

Once again, this came my way from KC, the greatest pal of them all.

Rating: 9.0 out of 10.

New Limburg Dubbel

My third brush with a brew from the New Limburg Brewing Company out of Nixon, Ontario was their Dubbel. At 7.4%, this Belgian-style ale doesn't mince words. A 500mL bottle of the stuff is a pretty formidable undertaking.

The beer proved to be a muddy brown and rusty red combo. It was cloudy and poured with a very thick cream head. To my nose, I got notes of copper, rich malt, yeast, and booze. The flavour was a bit less punchy than many other dubbels on the market, be they Belgian or Belgian-style. It was still largely dynamic, though; a fine combination of flavours, ranging from strong yeast and malt notes to subtler tastes of spice, dried fruit, and a dram of bitterness.

New Limburg's take on the Belgian Dubbel was fairly enjoyable, though I confess I found it a bit less complex than some of its fellows that I've thrown back. Unlike some of the classic abbey beers, each sip didn't birth new revelations, nor was it as pungently yeasty as others in the same style. Great strength, beautiful rich colour, and durable head all lent this ale some credibility, though, and to its great credit, it wasn't too sweet. The folks doing their brewing in Nixon clearly have a real appreciation for Belgian ales and an aptitude for brewing.

Rating: 8.0 out of 10.

Westmalle Dubbel

Westmalle Dubbel bears the logo of an authentic Trappist product. It comes from Antwerpsesteenweg, Malle, Belgium, where it's crafted by Brouwerij der Trappisten van Westmalle (Wikipedia cleared this up a bit for me--Westmalle, where the brewery is located, is one of two towns in Malle, a municipality in the Belgian province of Antwerp). This Belgian dubbel contains 7% alcohol and pours a deep reddish brown, beneath a loose cream head. It comes in shapely 330mL bottles.

As expected, Westmalle Dubbel has a yeasty aroma that has lively fruit notes. The nose primarily features notes of raisin, although there is a faint cranberry tartness, too. It's flavour is almost delicate, with soft floral notes mingling with more hearty yeast and malt ones. For a reasonably strong Belgian ale, this stuff is less assertive that might have been expected. Dried fruit flavours are represented, though they are not heavily emphasized. The finish is quite nicely balanced, with malt and a very agreeable dry hops quality sharing the spotlight with equanimity.

This is a very nice dubbel--restrained and mellow, yet still boozy and flavourful. While its not my favourite Belgian ale, I like it very much and I can think of no reason not to recommend this brew.

Rating: 9.0 out of 10.

Grimbergen Double-Ambrée

Happy Holidays from the Stout Man!

Let's talk about Grimbergen Double-Ambrée. There's 6.5% alcohol in this little number that's billed as a bière d'abbaye and a double-ambrée. I picked up a sixer of these guys--330mL bottles festooned with a phoenix and the righteously badass motto "Ardec Nec Consumitur", which, as the label informed me, means "burned but not destroyed". The label also refers to Grimsbergen Abbey, though this beer is actually brewed by Kronenbourg in Strasbourg, France.

It's a dark ruby ale that poured with a bit of cream head, but which vanished quite quickly. Its engaging malt aroma has lots of fruit notes, particularly a slightly sweet cranberry essence. The label mentions that the flavour has "subtle hints of caramel", but that's not what I found. I got fruity, malty, and ever-so-slightly tart.

Not a bad little dubbel-style beer from one of the big players in French brewing. A bit on the sweet side and a bit lacking in depth, but otherwise quite enjoyable. I really like the cranberry notes--something a little different. This six pack languished in my fridge for an unusually long time before they were all consumed--several weeks. Make of that what you will.

Rating: 7.5 out of 10.

Maredsous Brune 8

Maredsous Brune is, I think, a dubbel. It comes from Maredsous Abbaye, a Benedictine monastery in Belgium. I had a glass on tap at a Toronto beer bar that specializes in Belgian and Belgian-style ales. The hazy, ruddy brown brew topped with a thick tan head was served to me in abeautiful branded chalice. It contained a hearty 8% alcohol.  According to the tap list at the chill little pub, this beer is brewed according to the Benedictine monks' original recipe.

Great bar, but dark.

I found it to have a really powerful tart fruit aroma that really cleared my sinuses out. In contrast to the sharp aroma, the flavour and mouthfeel were really quite mellow for a strong beer. It's highly malty and undeniably fruit-driven. There are notes of pear and raisin. The finish has a tiny bump of hops, but overall, the stuff leans firmly toward malt. There is a dusting of tartness to wrap things up.

This was a sweet and strong beer--one that I really enjoyed and am glad to have tried, but one I won't be going back to anytime soon.

Rating: 8.0 out of 10.

Chimay Primière

Chimay Primière is brewed at Scourmont Abbey.  It's bottled by S.A. Bières de Chimay, in Baileux, Belgium. It's a trappist ale and, I think, a dubbel.  It's sold in a heavy, corked 750mL bottle and contains a muscular 7% alcohol.

Love the big bottle ...

C.P. pours a muddy, orange-brown colour. It's reasonably well carbonated and crowned with a persistent cream head. It has a highly malty aroma with notes of dried fruit and lots of yeast. It has a surprisingly delicate flavour for a Belgian ale with 7% alcohol. There are sweet malt flavours. Breadiness and some dark fruit notes precede a reasoanbly hoppy finish.

... and the cork, too.

I like this stuff a lot. It's a good into into serious Belgian ales without being too intimidating or overpowering. When i sometimes find myself in the mood for a big beer that doesn't have the staggering potency of some other Belgians, Chimay Primière is the ticket.  Just be sure not to drink two in one night.

Rating; 8.5 out of 10.

Bellwoods Brewery-Toil and Trouble

Toil and Trouble is the Bellwoods Brewery's rendition of a Belgian dubbel. It's a very robust beer with a wallop of booze at 8.7%. It's a dark, reddish brown colour topped with a whisper of creamy head. The aroma is malt-heavy and has considerable yeastiness and a dose of dark fruit. The flavour is malt-forward with some fruit sweetness. Possibly plum? Also, there's just a hint of chocolate at the back end.

Toil and Trouble is definitely a slow sipping beer. It's very satisfying and extremely rich. A pretty fair Toronto version of dubbel. One well worth trying.

Rating: 8.0 out of 10.