Looks like everyone before me got old bottles. Well, kudos to my stellar bottle shop for getting a fresh batch.
This was poured into a chalice because I thought it was a dubbel as it says it is on the label.
The appearance was a dark brown color with a thin quarter finger white foamy head that concaves and doesn’t really leave any lacing.
The smell has some cinnamon, Belgian yeast and spice, clove, light chocolate, not bad at all.
The taste takes those previously mentioned flavors and shakes them up to come across fairly nice.
On the palate, this one sat right at a medium in body with a decent sessionable aspect to it. The carbonation seems to be a tad sharper than expected and it comes across fairly watery on the finish.
Overall, dubbel or specialty grain, whatever it is, its not bad at all, but then again, I’m drinking two weeks old according to my bottle shop manager.

Feb 2010: Brown 33cl bottle, drank three days after its best before date. This is gluten free, wheat free ’double dark beer’. Dark it is, very dark indeed, a really deep ruby red colour to be truthful, with a tan collar and wisps. The smells given off where complex and different, chocolate malts and liquorice, then more chocolate, dark chocolate actually. The flavours were deep and rich, again a mix of chocolate and liquorice. Good feel to this beer, rich, creamy and full of flavour. Didn’t expect anything as good as this when I bought it, very impressed.

Bottle from Linville’s in Poquoson VA: Neat toffee and date nose that slighty approaches butterscotch, kind of like rum. Ruby brown, thick tan head., good lacing. Sharply tart. Damn, is this a Flemish Red? Nope, the bottle says Dubbel., but I digress. Flavor is plum and cherries, but mostly plum. Alcohol is insistent given its actual content. There is also a faint but noticeable bleach like flavor. Body is weak as was the aroma. Kudos and bonus points for doing neat styles gluten free. Unfortunately, Dubbels just aren’t the same, or as good, with a gluten free grain bill. If my diet required a gluten free diet, I would drink this often, though.

Bottle: Poured a dark rich brown color with a thick creamy light brown head. There was also light dusts of brown sediment in the head. Aroma is of dark fruit and alcohol. Taste is a bit watery and lacking of boady, taste is winey fruit. I wonder if this being an import had anything to do with the mellowness and/or the gluten free.

Pours clear dark brown with garnet highlights under a tan head. The aroma is mostly molasses with a touch of alcohol. The palate is very light, especially since I generally find more body to darker beers. Sweet tastes more like a soda or a cola drink than a beer. I suppose for a Gluten free beer it’s o.k.

500 ml bottle. The aroma is interesting (for a beer), but terrible. Smells of bourbon, brown sugar gone bad, age. Pours brown with a thick head, nice lacework. My first impression after the first drink: weird!?@#. What a funky beer. Sour. Carbonation is high. If I ever develop an allergy to gluten, I suppose I could get used to this. Let’s hope that never happens, though. It’d be hard.

Bottle. Small head with short duration. Color is brown. Aroma and taste are caramel, malt, nuts, chocolate and fruits.

500 mL bottle from Whole Foods Market, Charlottesville, VA. Pours a dark ruby tinted brown color with a large brown frothy head. Aroma of grainy malts, brown sugar and a tart note. Really a faint aroma. Taste is tart cherries, cola, grain, caramel, leafy notes. Medium bodied. A decent effort, especially considering this is gluten free, but as far as dubbels go, this sucks.