Dubbel 8

The second Jus de Mer (‘sea juice’) beer from Middelkerke, a dark one of course – very predictably, I am willing to make a bet that the third one will be a tripel… Thick and frothy, mousy, yellowish pale beige head, gradually opening over an initially clear, warm mahogany brow beer with copper red glow. Aroma of caramel sauce, candied cherries, fig compote, dates, clove, hints of nutmeg, brown sugar, bubblegum, raisins, sugared tea, coriander seed, thyme, ruby port and ‘koetjesreep’. Cleanly fruity with notes of ripe pear, fig, banana and date, but more dominated by brown sugar sweetness in the onset, yet in a well-measured, sleek way and not too sticky; softish fizz with full, rather resinous mouthfeel. Quite thick caramelly maltiness with an Ersatz chocolate-like edge and a brown-bready core, slightly bubblegummy at its edges, leading to a more herbal finish with coriander-like spicing (albeit subtle, certainly for a traditionally conceived Belgian dubbel) as well as light phenolic clove notes and warming, port-like alcohol; the brown sugar and caramel sweetness remains the prevailing factor till the end, but manages to avoid unpleasant stickiness. Clearly aimed at commercial easiness and predictability, but nevertheless well-crafted and tasty, probably with some interesting cellaring potential as well. --- Beer merged from original tick of Dubbel 8 on 05 Nov 2020 at 15:23 - Score: Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 6. Original review text: The second Jus de Mer (‘sea juice’) beer from Middelkerke, a dark one of course – very predictably, I am willing to make a bet that the third one will be a tripel… Thick and frothy, mousy, yellowish pale beige head, gradually opening over an initially clear, warm mahogany brow beer with copper red glow. Aroma of caramel sauce, candied cherries, fig compote, dates, clove, hints of nutmeg, brown sugar, bubblegum, raisins, sugared tea, coriander seed, thyme, ruby port and ‘koetjesreep’. Cleanly fruity with notes of ripe pear, fig, banana and date, but more dominated by brown sugar sweetness in the onset, yet in a well-measured, sleek way and not too sticky; softish fizz with full, rather resinous mouthfeel. Quite thick caramelly maltiness with an Ersatz chocolate-like edge and a brown-bready core, slightly bubblegummy at its edges, leading to a more herbal finish with coriander-like spicing (albeit subtle, certainly for a traditionally conceived Belgian dubbel) as well as light phenolic clove notes and warming, port-like alcohol; the brown sugar and caramel sweetness remains the prevailing factor till the end, but manages to avoid unpleasant stickiness. Clearly aimed at commercial easiness and predictability, but nevertheless well-crafted and tasty, probably with some interesting cellaring potential as well.

@Papagayo Beach Bar, Westende