Beer – #1038 – McLeod’s – Dubbel 2018
McLeod’s Dubbel. Part of their limited Smuggler’s bay series, numbered bottles and everything – this one is bottle 1144 from 1800 bottles – this is of course the 2018 version.
There’s an indication to drink this a at 4-6c so I brought my measuring stick to the table. Don’t want to get offside and receive advice on how properly to drink a beer when I should know better 🙂
A rich toffee
A 500ml bottle of a beer that is 7.6% on the ABV, and has the 28 IBU things, which makes it around that 228 calories a serve size. A pilsner is around 25-40 ibu things as a bitterness indicator. This bottle is 3 standard drink units in NZ.
McLeods Dubbel is brewed in the style that is a Dubbel and is brewed by McLeod’s Brewery who are inWaipu, New Zealand
Double Trouble
This is our version of a Belgian Trappist Style Dubbel.
So, What could possibly go wrong?
A not unusual vinegar note on the nose when I opened it, this soon passed and the bottle began to foam up a little with a lovely yeasty note that made me smile
Well the measure stick said 8.6, which is outside of the drinking guidelines, so either I’ve left this on the table too long or the measure stick is wrong.
A lovely, if somewhat lively pour with a generous and very full head that is very very persistent and shows no sign of abatement, Bright polished brown almost red, it’s very pretty.
The aroma in the glass is interesting, and really hints at something more sour, but with that yeast note promises more sweet.
I should not have worried because this banging full of sweet malts and sugariness with a brilliant bright middle that lifts this and makes it really nice to drink.
That middle never really kicks on though for me, which I really would have liked it to do, fill out, soften or become more the beer than that edge, which is really fanciful and improbable or impossible I imagine.
What you get as this sits and warms slightly is a beer that steadies and grows into itself more, that big hit of the malt and sweetness is brought into check and that middle catches up, and this becomes a beer with quite a nice and full mouth feel. But it’s not an outstanding or particularly memorable beer, it just is what it is.
So on that temperature recommendation, it’s fine as a start point but my glass still manages to creep to 12.3 from the 8.6, and 8.6 started too warm. I’m not investing in an insulated glass, and whilst I think the 4-6 is achievable and not drinking it at that point is rude to the brewer and style there’s no way that I can envisage keeping this in range. I’ve not given it a lot of thought though.
The pdubyah-o-meter rates this as 8 of its things from the thing. I think Dubels should have more sugary malt in them, this had to start but as it warms it just somehow lost it’s character and then fades to grey. It really isn’t a bad beer, it’s just a beer that is what it is, as per the style guide, done well, but without pizazz.
The double dip review
- Where did I get it? The local Liquorland had them
- Am I enjoying it? I am
- Would I have another? There are other Dubels to try
- Would I share with a friend on a porch and set the world to rights? It is quite nice if quite unspectacular really, it’s a very well made Dubel that is in line with that I expect but didn’t really bring anything else to the table.
Music for this: I Am Easy to Find by The National on the Spotify player – if you want to play along, I’m playing this on the vinyl version that I just brought.
ABBEY DUBBEL
These are dark, malty, yeasty strong ales in the Trappist tradition, but produced (mainly) by secular brewers. Dubbels range between 6.5-8% abv, and have a dark brown, cloudy colour, and a palate mixing malt, a lush fruitiness, and yeast. They are typically bottle-conditioned.
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