by Abdij Der Trappisten Van Westmalle
Ryan is our warehouse guy, and he's been working with us since early last year. Coming from a champagne background in the Hunter Valley, he's been increasing his beer knowledge at a rapid rate by trying as many different beers as he can. Recently he tried Westmalle Dubbel and he reckons it might be his favourite of all the beers to date.
So that triggered me to thinking we should feature in the beer club again as it must have been many years ago that we had it. October 2015 it was, so high time we made sure all our current members are familiar with this beer.
The classic Trappist Dubbel, and a benchmark of the style.
This slightly cloudy dark brown nectar is an inviting mix of caramelised sugar, dark stone fruits, light roasted malt and of course Belgian yeast notes including a good hit of banana.
The mouthfeel is very smooth, and surprisingly dry. The lovely balance of flavours persist with a fruity but dry and slightly bitter aftertaste.
The Westmalle Trappist Abbey has a brewing history dating back to 1 August 1836. In 1856, the Monks produced the first strong dark beer, and this beer is considered to be the first beer brewed in the Belgian Dubbel style.
Did you know: For a long time Westmalle Dubbel was the only dark Belgian Trappist ale to be available on draught. It is generally acknowledged that the draught version is less fruity and sweet than the bottled version, smoother, richer and maltier. Over the years we’ve managed to source a keg a couple of times to bring over to Oz!