Affligem Dubbel

Brewed By: Brouwerij Affligem / De Smedt (Heineken) in Opwijk, Belgium

Purchased: 750ml bottle bought at Friar Tucks in Urbana, IL; 2014 

Style/ABV: Belgian Dubbel, 7.0% 

Reported IBUs: ?

TIL Affligem is Heineken's bitch....about Affligem:

Affligem has a long history as an Abbey, going back to 1074 when six knights quit their day job of kicking ass, and traded their swords for a more peaceful life. Ten years later, and the Abbey was born. Like most Abbeys, Affligem was subject to numerous take downs and rebuildings. In 1796, the French state shut down the Abbey. It was not restored until 1887.

The Monks at Affligem were brewing beer since the early days of the Abbey. During World War II they handed over their recipe to sustain/preserve the business. The brewery is located in Opwijk, Belgium, and is owned by Heineken. For more info, check out the brewery's website. 

The Affligem Dubbel is an...Abbey Dubbel. This one really needs no explanation. Described as dark and spicy, this one should feature lots of clove, spice, anise, raisins, molasses, and bananas. The bottle is cool, and the glass is no slouch...let's see how she stacks up.

Affligem Dubbel

Wow...this is a raw, rustic Dubbel. I'm digging this from the onset, with the beer's dark reddish-brown/orange body. The body is hazy, and you can see yeast suspended in the beer, along with a stream of carbonation rising upwards from the chalice's nucleation point. This one kicks up one to two fingers of thick, bready, caramel-tinted head. This just looks the part of an Abbey Ale, all rustic and conditioned...nice. [there's good, clingy head retention/glossy alcohol legs]

The aroma is even better than the appearance. I'm getting some apples and wheat up front, with some caramel sugars. If you dig deeper you get rich raisins, breads, brown sugars, bready desserts (I think raisin bread is a safe call), mild anise, clove, green bananas, perfumed dark fruits...it's just deep and layered, and goes way beyond the apple and wheat notes you initially get.

The taste follows through with the nose, almost spot on. That's not a bad thing, as you get blasted with sweet caramel, raisins/molasses, apples, and wheat up front. There are figs and stone fruits abound in here, with perfumed dark fruits firing on all cylinders across the tongue through the beer's velvety-smooth and perfectly carbonated body. I'm getting some hints of bread in here, brown sugar, raisin bread, dark fruits, dried dark berries, and tons of spicy phenols ala clove and cinnamon. Finally, I'm getting a dash of light anise/licorice.

This is classic Abbey through and through. Maybe it plays things a little safe, but the execution is flawless. And this feels rustic and vintage. I wonder how old this recipe is. I'm not getting any of the beer's 7.0%, but this is full-bodied and authoritative. The mouthfeel is perfect, with great duration, and tons of creamy, carbonated goodness. Complexity is fairly high as well. This expands in layers, with apples, raisins, wheat, caramel, and molasses up front; the mids hit carbonated figs, dark fruits, perfume, clove spice; the back end has malts, with breads, cakes, raisin bread, brown sugar, cinnamon, clove...the finish is dry and lightly dusty. This is well-balanced, and big. Nice... 

Rating: Divine Brew (4.5/5.0 Untappd)

I can't believe I'm saying this about a Heineken-owned product, but this is a Light Divine Brew and one of the better Abbey Dubbels I have had. What pushes this beer over the top is the absolutely PERFECT and MEMORABLE mouthfeel, and the layers of complexity. This beer is also perfectly balanced, with good bitterness, tons of spice, lots of malts, and a dry clean finish. As this warms up the spice and malts are popping, and adding the yeast from the bottom of the bottle seems to add character. I'm just enjoying the heck out of this beer, and I could see myself buying this beer again in the Winter months. I feel like this is the perfect beer to pair with a meat and cheese tray, preferably during a football game. You could also pair this beer with stews, hearty soups, grilled meats, and ham. This is just some rustic and refined goodness. I'm surprised...I'm intrigued...I give this a VERY STRONG RECOMMENDATION, especially at around $10 a bottle. Check it out. 

Random Thought: I feel like classic Abbey/Belgian Dubbels are quite different from the candi sugar overload American counterparts. There is nothing wrong with that, but surely this style distinction is worth noting. Compare something like Solemn Oath's Big Box Make Magic to the beer that we have in front of us, and yeah. Two awesome beers with completely different experiences. 

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

Engelszell Benno Trappistenbier

Brewed By: Stift Engelszell Trappistenbier-Brauerei in Engelhartszell an der Donau, Austrian

Purchased: 11.2oz/333ml bottle bought at Binny's in Chicago, IL; 2014 (2013 Vintage)

Style/ABV: Trappist Ale/Belgian Dubbel, 6.9%

Reported IBUs: ???

Tonight's beer is unique enough, and I was happy to find it sitting on shelves in Binny's. The beer came in one of those holiday gift packs, and the gift pack included two bottles of beer and a sexy Engelszell glass. Without further ado, let's dig into Austria's Trappist brewery. About Stift Engelszell:

Stift Engelszell is the only Trappist monastery in Austria, and was founded in 1293 by Bishop Bernard (Wernhart), and was technically settled in 1295. The abbey suffered spiritual and financial decline during the Protestant Reformation, until it started to receive support from the Wilhering Abbey from 1618 onward. In 1699, the abbey suffered a disastrous fire, and from 1720 to 1746 the abbey fell into the hands of various administrators. In 1746, Leopold Reichl, the last of Engelszell's abbots, began to rebuild the abbey. In 1786 Engelszell was dissolved by Emperor Joseph II.

According to Wikipedia, in 1925 Engelszell was re-founded as a Trappist monastery by refugee German monks who were expelled from the Oelenberg Abbey in Alsace after World War I. In 1931, Engelszell was again elevated to the rank of an abbey, but in 1939, the abbey was confiscated by the Gestapo. Four monks were sent to the Dachau Concentration Camp, and others were imprisoned or drafted. At the end of the war, only a third of the community returned to the abbey. Sine 1995, the abbot has been Marianus Hauseder, and there are nine or so monks in the community.

In May 2012, the abbey was approved by the International Trappist Association to become the 8th producer of Trappist beer. For more information, check out the abbey's website, or this lovely Wikipedia article.

The Engelszell Benno Trappistenbier is a Trappist Dubbel that punches in at 6.9% ABV, and is sold at the brewery or at their online store. Evidently it gets imported into the states as well via bottle, and I've had the Engelszell Gregorius on tap. It was tasty. The Benno (here now pronounced "Beano") is brewed with water, malted barley, honey, hops, and yeast. 

Engelszell Benno Trappistenbier 

The Benno pours into a hazy, honey-amber/dark orange/brownish body, and kicks up three fingers of orange/amber-tinted head. The head is dense and fluffy like a wheat beer, and as it departs there is some nice lacing. Head retention is great. Bright light confirms the swampy and murky but radiant orange beer. It's reminiscent of a Dubbel. There's some nice carbonation storming upwards in this.

This has a really nice, rustic aroma. The aroma is pretty raw and funky, with some dusty leather, Belgian yeast spice phenol, banana, bubblegum, clove, light cinnamon and ginger, wheat malt, some toast, and some peppery spice phenol. There is some fruit aroma lurking in here. Along with the banana, white sugar, and wheat is some cherry, peach, golden raisin, and stone fruit.  

I did pour the yeast into my glass...but I've let it settle for a bit, and I'm still getting a lot of medicinal and herbal twang. This one tastes quite peppery, with tons of peppery phenol, cinnamon, cumin, some Saison-like peppery phenol, and some nice funky leather. I'm sort of reminded of the wacky Saisons from Fantôme, and that's not a bad thing by any stretch. This one is bitter too, with good floral bitterness, bitter peach, and some citrus. The honey does show up, mostly in the back and as part of the body.

This beer is oddly complex, and again, I'm reminded of a Fantôme Saison with the bitter medicinal/herbal/peppery kick, and hints of Belgian funk and leather. This has no wild yeast or Brett in it (as far as I know or can tell). Palate depth is good, complexity is good...it drinks medium-bodied with good carbonation, and the 6.9% is hidden minus some mild warming. You get fruity peaches, Saison-like floral notes, some stone fruit and citrus, and burgeoning phenol and spice up front; the middle rolls into huge phenol and spice, with tons of herbal/medicinal, pepper, funky Belgian yeast, some leather, earthy; the back end continues with the bitter, medicinal, peppery funk...fade to dry. Honey character in the back and in the mouthfeel. Pretty unique...

Rating: Average (3.0/5.0 Untappd)

I really don't know...I'm gonna go with a Light Average, but honestly, I think I might rate this higher and I'll have to revisit this. This is an oddly compelling and unique beer...it's very earthy, spicy, herbal/medicinal, and it has that rustic and wild Fantôme funk with unchecked Belgian yeast and dusty leather. It's kind of...an ugly duckling beer, like a Rottweiler or Pitbull. This beer really does have a ton of character, and the biggest sin here is calling it a Dubbel. A Dubbel...this is not. There's no plums or brown sugar or any of that shit. Yup. I'm gonna quit now, but definitely pick this up and hey, let me know what you think if you happen to read this. Food pairings: rustic, peppery foods. Treat this like a peppery Saison. Peppery turkey, chicken, duck, potatoes, carrots, etc. This is like some Medieval times beer. Recommended. 

Random Thought: I cannot emphasize enough how intrigued I am by this beer...and the Engelszell Gregorius isn't too shabby either. I have another bottle I'm camping on, and I'll check this out again in a few months for a possible re-review.