Palmero
Hangar 24 Craft Brewing

This is quite unique.
Burnished amber in color. Slightly hazy. Firm oatmeal colored head develops 2 inches, then slowly recedes to a scattered milky ring after a few minutes.
Smell is the best part. The date smells are deep and complex. From meaty Medjool to a fruity sweet Barhi date that leans toward honey, the aromas are in constant motion.
Taste is moderately sweet. Fairly forward and rounded out with the dates with a brown bread malt toning it down a tad. Yeasty notes are very subdued, the way I prefer. Probably a little off from style.
Mouthfeel is moderately full for style. Carbonation remains present but not overwhelming.
Overall, I like this but for the Dubbel purist, I think it would be a bit disappointing.

 

L: Deep orange/amber color. Hazy like an unfiltered beer. Consistent head, carbonation, and lace upon drinking.

S: A very distinctly raisiny/fig flavor to it. Not overwhelming though, blended well with a sweet malty bread flavor.

T: I was a bit underwhelmed personally by the flavor. It was exceptionally subtle, and may have overall been too cold to really allow the dark fruit flavors to flourish. They were there, but it was very very faint at best. The crispy sweet malt flavor was very nice, and the addition of some dark fig like flavors would have been great. Again, may have been simply a poor serving temperature error, but it was not as good as some of the other local fields releases.

F: Crisp, but balanced with a bit of sweet mouthfeel. A pretty thin and overall light feeling beer. Not as heavy as you would think. Was a bit too smooth to be a true Belgian style.

O: I'd really have to give this one a second go around. It seems to have a lot of nice flavors and things in place, it just didn't come together like I had hope. Pedestrian is how I would describe it. Does not quite capture the style of a belgian dubbel, nor does it enliven the senses with a flavor of a dark belgian beer. A worthwhile effort, and something Hangar can build upon in the next batch. Less malt, more dark fruit.

Poured from a bomber bottle into a globe glass.

L - Beer is a deep copper color with lots of orange. Slightly hazy. Head is off-white; moderately thick on the pour and is moderately persistent.

S - Low graham cracker malt overlaid by a distinct date fruitiness. No hops aromas. No distinctive yeast notes. No obvious alcohol.

T - Some bread and graham cracker malt. Metallic tang and a hint of vinegar in mid-palate make me wonder if there is a low grade infection that would become more noticeable with aging. It is also possible these flavors are due to the date sugars. Late in the palate date, plum and brown sugar flavors become prominent. No Belgian yeast flavors, which is disappointing.

F - Thinnish body; low carbonation. Very low alcohol presence. Low bitterness just barely holds the sweetness in check (ok).

O - Overall this is a decent fruit beer with the obvious dates, but not a very good dubbel. It entirely lacks the interesting yeast notes of the style and the expected malt has only a minor presence.