As you know, "collaboration" is always a dangerous word to read on any beer bottle. Often an experiment and holiday for others but at your expense. Unfortunately for my prejudices, I quite like dubbels and there are apparently honest to goodness Cistercian monks involved so I will open my mind.
But first, this post is brought to you by my electrician who installed a switch in the stash room yesterday. I've actually broken a on-off pull chain and then destroyed a jury-rigged switch with all these bottle photos over the years. It's a nice switch. Switch 3G. Functional. Unassuming. And reasonably priced. The same goes for this dubbel. It pours a pleasant chestnut with a light mocha froth and rim. On the sniff there's nuts, brown sugar and a nice fruity almost grape scent. A very pleasant sip. Spiced burlappiness soaked in a little treacle. The label alleges clove and black pepper which I might buy. Not a very interesting spice combo if you think of it. 10,000 years of global cuisines have rejected it. The malty bits are more interesting: date, fig, a little citrus thing that might be lime (or maybe yellow plum) and also brown bread. Perfectly fine.
The Ovila line of beers has its own unnecessarily fussy website. Don't hold it against them. They know not what they do. And the BAers say... HEY, they switched to number. This is an "86" whatever the hell that means. Useless.
Comments
Stan Hieronymus - January 5, 2012 11:36 PM
Just my opinion, but probably at least an 89. (That's stolen from somebody in wine rating land, who assigns each one an 89.)
Or, put another way, sets a new standard for "dubbels" fermented within the U.S. borders.
Alan - January 6, 2012 8:27 AM
Really? I mean I know you write the books and are super keen on this and all but really? That is very high praise. One short of 90. There are a lot of good US dubbels. It is up there but what about Ommegang? Or Stoudts which I have not seen for yoinks.
Stan Hieronymus - January 6, 2012 9:19 AM
"Just my opinion" and I'm sticking to it.
Here's why an 89:
http://hosemasterofwine.blogspot.com/2010/04/blandness.html
Alan - January 6, 2012 10:18 AM
You wag. That article is exactly on point, too. The difference between 89 and 90 vastly exceeds 81 to 89... not to mention 49 to 79.
Alan - January 6, 2012 1:00 PM
16 hours before someone noticed I spelled "Ovila" as "Olivia" - too many small people in my life not to make that typo.
Ethan - January 6, 2012 11:05 PM
I like the saison better, for the record; found the yeast chracter a bit restrained in the dubbel and a bit too sweet, though lively pit fruit was good.
Alan - January 7, 2012 10:16 AM
Lively pit fruit is where it is at. It's a little known fact that, like the pit bull, they are named after archaic pit fighting entertainments ofter found in 1700s taverns of the smaller sort.
Ethan - January 7, 2012 3:07 PM
Ha!
Alan - January 8, 2012 12:08 AM
Lordy, Lordy - look what was in the stash... a Brother David Double from Anderson Valley, last reviewed in 2006, got me though the GOP debate. What I like about it is that it is a step away from Bernardus 12... which is bigger than a dubbel should be but right in line with what I like most in a beer.
Catalina - January 9, 2012 11:53 PM
wow, guess my taste must be way off from the scale :(