Baltic Dubbel
(has 1 batch)

Bottle. Color: Bit hazy ruby. Off white head. Taste: A German Baltic Dubbel. This confuses me a bit. Didn?t really know what to expect before opening... Taste is mostly like a Bwlgium dubbel I think. Caramel, medium sweet, notes of red fruit and some bitter hints. Medium body, above medium carbonation. 8,5% alcohol is not noticeable. Okay beer, pretty unusual for a German brewery, but lacking something special. There are better dubbel beers.

German dubbel (an alienating concept by itself) dubbed ’Baltic’, whatever that may mean; paper-wrapped bottle from an Albert Heijn supermarket. Thinnish, irregular, off-white head, quickly reduced to a very thin rim around the edge and a few wafer thin ’islands’ of foam in the middle; hazy mahogany brown robe with reddish burgundy hue. Aroma of overripe pear, fermenting peach, clove phenols, liquorish, banana mush, strawberry wine, dried peppermint leaves, butterscotch, brownies dough, soggy rye bread, soapy wheat, plum brandy, sweet young madera, sugary blue grapes bursting with fructose, cinnamon rolls, artisanal cider, wet dog, dry hay, very old brown honey, ginger ale, cassis, ’Roosvicée’, beetroot. Fruity onset, lots of ’bubblegummy’ banana ester (isoamylacetate) along with impressions of overripe blue plums, sweet grapes, pineapple and some vague elderberry, residual brown sugary sweetness but well-retained, some sourishness for balance accentuated by a souring, even numbing, harsh overcarbonation adding fiercely sparkling mineral water effects; this overcarbonation roughens an otherwise smooth, little bit oily, slick mouthfeel. Caramelly, almost resinous malt sweet body ensues, toffeeish but quickly acquiring a softly toasted bitterish edge while a very ’deep’ and remote rye spiciness joins in along with a soft, juicy wheat soapiness; the banana ester persists and increasing phenols appear, eventually becoming very clove- and even almost liquorish-like, (too) expressive. Thick and near-syrupy malt sweetness along with a soft spicy, soggy grey bread-like rye effect and soapy wheat reign the finish along with these spicy, pungent phenols, an earthy, slightly peppery ’hop kiss’ in the end resounding for quite a while, and, of course, a heating effect of brown rum-like alcohol which balances on the brink of harshness, nearly blotting out the free passage of the caramel- and plum-like flavours, which are the core business of this beer. With near to no contenders to compete with in its own country, I can easily understand how this ’dubbel’ (or rather: ’massieve ale’) won a gold medal at some local beer contest, and I honestly have to admit that this is not all bad for what it pretends to be: very fruity, sweet with a bittering ending, quite ’lively’ in carbonation (though a bit too much so to my personal liking) and phenolic - this beer very obviously proves that the Germans are trying to master beer styles from other countries and in this case, they have performed very well in my book, as this outclasses many of the standard dubbels in Belgium itself - especially the industrial ones (Leffe, Grimbergen, Tongerlo). This beer does not try to expand the borders of the old dubbel style (and now that I come to think of it: not enough beers do), but in being this ’honest’, estery and phenolic, it can stand any comparison with Belgian dubbels from more artisanal breweries - even though it does not add anything to this very classic 20th (or even 19th) century style. Expressive, convincing example of this style made in Germany: I honestly did not see this one coming. Now for that tripel - while the ’Baltic’ aspect of it keeps puzzling me.

330 ml. bottle sampled @ home. Purchased @ AH. BBF 01.02.2019. I have no idea as to what a Baltic Dubbel is supposed to be. Apparently it came out as the best Belgian Dubbel from Germany in the London 2016 World Beer Awards which honestly means kind of nothing. Given how this contest works, their claim of being Germany’s best brewery (based on number of medals won during the same contest) doesn’t mean anything either. Anyway,... Fox brown amber, tanned head. Nose is weak herbal spices, furniture, dusty cacao,... Taste falls flat, dusty empty mineral water cacao, feels empty & thin for 8.5 % ABV, stale herbs, plastic, herbs, old cacao, low booze,... Very empty dusty plastic, herbal cacao body,... Falls pretty flat. Very empty brew of the ABV, weak notes, some unpleasant. Not a fan.

Flasche 0,33l: Kastanienbraun, deutliche Trübung, sehr kräftiger stabiler mittelporiger Schaum; in der Nase dunkle Süße, kräftig würzig, Röstmalz, Malzzucker, kräftige Röstaromen, leichte fruchtige Säure, dunkle/getrocknete Früchte, Tannine; im Körper leichte Süße, fruchtig, würzig, Malz, Malzzucker, spritzig-fruchtige Säure, dunkle/eingelegte Früchte, Backpflaumen, cremig, kräftige Kohlensäure, Röstaromen, frische Hopfenaromen, angenehme dunkel-fruchtige BItterkeit; angenehmer fruchtig-würziger Nachgang mit Röstaromen

330 ml bottle served in abbey glass. Brown colour, medium white head. Malty caramel and ripe fruit aroma. Bittersweet taste, alcohol taste very strong. Soft carbonated, oily texture, full body. Overall, way too strong for a Dubbel; alcohol is quite dominant and unpleasant. Needs more fine tuning.

Bottle DØE Julefrokost @ Aarhus Bryghus. Pours dark brown with an offwhite head. Aroma of sweet malt, caramel, yeast, sweet fruit, little chocolate, alcohol. Flavor is sweet, malt, yeasty, caramel, bread, light chocoolate, corn notes, alcohol. Medium body, average carbonation, sweet finish. 131216

Pours dark brown from the lavish paper-wrapped bottle. The head is foamy and rapidly dissipates. No visible lacing or whispy strands. Looks like a glass of muddy puddle water. On to the aroma which is a mix of coffee and old cigarette smoke. Taste is lightly bitter and set atop a fairly prickly carbonation that is at first hard to discern in the murk. Sugar comes through finally in the finish, lingering on the tongue long after the swill. Very little of the advertised fruity notes were evident to me. Reading this now it sounds fairly dismal, but I finished the bottle easily enough and even enjoyed it apart from the strong notes of stale cigarette. Does not quite come together, but by no means a failure. Interesting.

*Malty caramel, nice smooth dried fruit. Caramel, moderate bitter, fresh and smooth with a caramelly dark smooth aftertaste. Dark Chocolate, coffee. great!