Bornem Double Abbey Ale - Brouwerij Van Steenberge, Ertvelde

This stout little bottle is quite unassuming. It's got a curvy upper half that looks a bit like soft serve ice cream atop a cone. The label is pretty plain, with it's blue background and curiously menacing stork icon. You can never really judge a beer by it's label so I tried not to develop any preconceived notions about this little Belgian bottle from a brewery I'd never heard of. When I poured this beer into my glass I noticed a pretty big aroma coming off the beer. There was a good deal of malt at first but hints of candied fruit, chocolate and caramel were all present. An odd aroma for a Dubbel, but a great combination nonetheless.

The Bornem Double Abbey Ale tastes decidedly Belgian in a very generic sense. The yeast flavors in this beer have a very breadlike flavor that others try to reproduce to varying degrees of success. Along with that yeast there are some darker flavors like candied fig and chocolate. While the figginess is rich, it isn't as sweet as the apple and gold raisins I'm tasting right in the middle of this beer. To top it all off, the whole mouthful is coated in a thin layer of semi-sweet caramel. It's a great combination.

I don't have much else to say about this beer, it's got a pretty interesting flavor that kept me thoroughly entertained for the better part of a half hour. My only complaint would have to be that there is no wow factor to this beer. It does everything more-or-less right but it doesn't do anything exceptional. This would be a great session Dubbel if there were such a thing, but the 8% ABV is prohibitively strong. There is enough flavor here to keep you busy for an evening as long as you don't have any errands to run.