Petrus Dubbel Bruin

Brewed By: Bavik-De Brabandere in Harelbeke, Belgium

Purchased: Single bottle (11.2oz) from a Petrus sampler bought at Binny's in Chicago, IL; 2011

Style/ABV: Belgian Dubbel, 6.5%

Yesterday I reviewed the Petrus Blond ale, today I am reviewing the Petrus Dubbel Bruin or "double brown" ale. I spent a good portion of yesterday's review bitching about semantics, so today I want to talk about how cool Petrus is. I want to give an obligatory "check it out" to the Bavik website. The brewery brews a couple of different lines of beer, and today's beer is part of their Petrus series.

Petrus is a name of course, and means "Peter." I have to assume that the Petrus in question is Saint Peter. Saint Peter is often depicted holding a key, which is symbolic to the bible passage Matthew 16:17-20:

The Peter on the right looks like he is having more fun...

I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hell will not overcome it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.

I love the Biblical mythology that goes with Belgian beer, and I love the jolly Petrus picture on the bottles of Petrus beer. The jolly gatekeeper to heaven, holding the key to heaven and a good beer. The Petrus bottles are also labeled with "the key to heaven," and that seems to be the official Petrus slogan. 

Anyway, I just wanted to share how much I enjoy the Petrus bottle art. I think the Petrus logo is inviting, fun, and great branding that fits with the Belgian/Abbey beer culture. Moving onwards with the review... 

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[Insert joke about drinking being a sin, something something irony]. The Petrus Dubbel Bruin decided to be a gusher. I opened the bottle and was greeted with a huge explosion of rising, brown carbonation. Beer got everywhere. Now that I've cleaned up the mess, I can report that the beer pours pretty typical for a Belgian Dubbel. There is a sizable 3-finger, tan head. The head gives way to gorgeous lacing and a beautiful one-centimeter coating. The body of this beer is a dark ruby red or light brown depending on the lighting. There appears to be moderate carbonation, and the beer looks to be semi-filtered. There is gorgeous lacing on my glass. A fine looking beer, minus the unexpected beer orgasm that got everywhere.

Huge, huge Twizzlers on the nose. Sweet licorice, candied dark fruits, plums, hints of raisin, slight acidity, malts, dark spiced rum, hints of alcohol, red wine grapes, vinous red wine, hint of baking chocolate (the stuff that tastes plain and dry and not sweet). This smells a lot like a Dubbel! I'm not picking up any caramel, but quite a bit of dark fruits and vinous red wine is coming through.

Petrus Dubbel Bruin

The beer is quite carbonated, and hits you with a lot of plums and grapes up front. There's a lot of "juice" going on in here. I'm picking up big grape juice notes, BIG grape jelly, grape soda, TWIZZLERS, plums, prune juice, prunes, and other dark fruits. On the back end I'm getting hints of baking chocolate or even dark chocolate truffle. I taste boxed wine, raisins, some sweetness and sugar, vinegar and acid, and quite a bit of cheap red wine notes.

The mouthfeel here is carbonated, and on the lighter spectrum of medium. This is not a very complex beer, and the palate depth seems to only extend deep on the front of my palate. This is also a super sweet beer, and there's quite a bit of this "cheap red wine" taste. On the front of the palate is a big punch of carbonation followed by super sweet dark fruits; grape jelly, twizzlers, plums, raisins, grape soda, cheap wine. This rolls into some subtle malty notes like chocolate truffle and baking chocolate, which continues until the end. There isn't a ton of alcohol warming, but the alcohol is noticeable in your belly. Lots of overripe, sweet dark fruits dominate this beer. 

Rating: Average
Score: 57%

Maybe this is a sign from Peter himself that I'm destined for H-E-Double hockey sticks. The only thing overwhelming about this beer is how much carbonation wants to explode out the bottle after you open it.

Seriously though, I love Twizzlers and Grape Jelly as much as the next guy, but this beer is kind of one-dimensional in that regard. I might drink this again if I had a craving for that specific taste, but otherwise there are other more refined Dubbels you can drink. Compared to the Corsendonk Pater, this is amateur hour. More importantly, compared to the Petrus Blond, this is much less refined. 

Conclusion: I wouldn't go out of my way to get the Petrus Dubbel Bruin unless I had a craving for Twizzlers, Grape Jelly, and sweet dark fruits. On the other hand, this beer wouldn't deter me from picking up a Petrus Sampler.