New Glarus Thumbprint Series Dubbel

Brewed By: New Glarus Brewing Company in New Glarus, Wisconsin

Purchased: 12oz bottle from a 4-pack bought at Woodman's in Kenosha, WI; 2014 

Style/ABV: Belgian Dubbel, 7.6% 

Reported IBUs: ?

Wrapping up with my lastest trip to Wisconsin...about New Glarus:

New Glarus is the rare, gorgeous "Midwest" brewery, founded in 1993 by Deborah Carey, the first woman to found and operate a brewery in the United States. She raised the capital for the start-up as a gift to her husband, Dan Carey, who is New Glarus' brewmaster and co-owner. Dan Carey has a long history working in the brewing industry, including an apprenticeship at a brewery near Munich, Germany and a job as the Production Supervisor for Anheuser-Busch. The brewery began as an abandoned warehouse using old brewpub equipment. In 1997, Dan Carey purchased coper kettles from a brewery in Germany. In May 2006, New Glarus opened their new (current) facility on a hilltop in the village of New Glarus. The facility looks like a Bavarian village, and is gorgeous. The expansion has allowed the brewery to continue to increase their production, and expand their operations. For more information, check out their brewery page or Wikipedia. 

The Thumbprint Series Dubbel is part of New Glarus' Thumbprint Series, and is brewed using the traditional Belgium brewing methods that include a long kettle boil, and fermentation with Belgian Candi Sugar. This one is described as having a "cordial of caramel and spiced fruit notes." 

New Glarus Thumbprint Series Dubbel

This one pours the part...that is, with a hazy, reddish body, and two or three fingers of dense, bready, red/orange-tinted head. It looks very much like a Belgian Ale/Dubbel. Bright light confirms the hazy, reddish-orange body. There is a lot of peppery carbonation rising upwards, and the beer is effervescent with good head retention and lacing. 

The aroma isn't bad either. There's a nice chalky/dusty character on the aroma which reminds me of Chimay...I'm getting some earthy leather, oak (was this oak-aged???), light medicinal funk, and some nice hoppy notes. As you dig into the aroma more you get big dark fruits, including figs, grapes, plums, and a sherry/wine note. There is light perfume and candi sugar on the nose as well. 

The taste here isn't quite as prolific as the aroma...unfortunately. I'm getting lots of earthy funk, leather, oak, faint and nondescript hops, and very mild dark fruit character. There is a lot of carbonation, with some hints of perfume, candi sugar, and light Belgian funk. There is an earthy charred/leather note in here, and I'm really digging that. To me, it points this beer in the direction of grilled and barbecued food pairings.

This is a medium-bodied and well-carbonated beer. It's a bit airy, and it's way too drinkable at 7.6% or whatever it clocks in at. It has average palate depth and duration for the style, and also average complexity. This one leans towards dry...and not very sweet. Both of those things ultimately end up defining this beer within the typical Dubbel guidelines. I actually like this a lot, even if it's an average offering within the style. Up front: earthy leather, char, hints of oak, grains, airy and papery hops; the mids hit some Belgian funk, and throw in some caramel and dark fruits, suggestive Belgian yeast, light spice/perfume; the back end is trailing spice/perfume, bready, clean, dry finish. 

Rating: Average (3.0/5.0 Untappd)

I'm feeling a Strong Average on this. Again, those earthy leather/char notes would really compliment grilled or smoked meats. New Glarus suggests pairing this with smoked ham or grilled aged steak, and I would tend to agree with those suggested pairings. For my money, this is a good Dubbel, but kind of also par the course. I would feel right at home sipping on one of these in the Winter, but I probably would not go out of my way to seek this out unless I lived in Wisconsin. Then again, if they brew this again next year, I'll probably pick it up. 

Random Thought: I <3 New Glarus