Bieré De Abbaye Double
Pax Bräu

Has a clear chestnut color, with a small head, leaving a decent lacing at the edge of the glass.

Convincing aromas of toffeeish, slightly smoked malts, along with subtle hints of sweet honey.

Begins with bready malts, wich got a distinct smokiness to them. Underneath this foundation develops a gentle, slightly slick honey note. The complex maltiness then interacts very well with a hoppy dry note, providing an enjoyable balance, while the smoke is still present. Into the sweetness of the beer blends a herbal spiciness, which acts as a bridge for introducing the dryer aspects to the palate. Carbonation is a little to low, obviously not bottle conditioned, leading to a slightly watery, dull finish.

from October, 2014 in the Bierkalender series. He's not done this kind of beer before, a "Bieré de Abbaye Double" as it says on the bottle. Notice the ingredients... besides "Gerstenmalz," which could mean anything, but I'm guessing is Pils, Münchner and Carafe II, which he said was his standard malt bill, there's Wheat, Honey and Coriander. It's interesting he didn't mention the specific hops, mainly because I believe they're your normal, non-exciting German Noble hops, either Hallertauer Mittelfrüh or Perle.

I'm sure the label was done by the same graphics artist who does all the rest for Pax Bräu, and the humor here is quite interesting. You got a church, a monk who looks like a zombie bear growling at you, holding a glass Krug and a Bible of beer, with a pic of a hop and grains on the cover. Irreverent and fun at the same time.

At 7.5%, it's definitely a Double.

Appearance: Under a dirty tan head that dissipates quickly, a crystal clear color of amber, brown and orange tints shine wonderfully, a really pretty color indicative of the use of Münchner or Melanoinden and Carafa malts.

Aroma: Wow... quite Belgian. I get a powerful mix of honey, a spiciness that's leaning towards coriander, caramel, a strong wheat malt note and a slightly boozy, alcohol punch. That's a lot going on there, but it's really enticing me to take a sip, making my mouth water just breathing it in and looking at it.

Flavor:

Front: Spiciness with lots of coriander, a slight boozy alcohol tang, some bitterness which is all Noble hop, some underlying sugary sweetness mixed with caramel.

Middle: The same flavors as in the front, but here come a slightly dryness from the Wheat malt, more tanginess that borders on citrus but stays more in the orange range. There's less coriander here but it's still quite noticeable, just not as much as in the front. You can feel the honey in it's sweetness as well as a rounder, deeper mouthfeel here. You get more malt flavor, caramel of a Märzen and something else which I'm picking up as roasted malt in the background.

Back: Again, same flavors such as coriander, but here is where the malts shine through. Lots of caramel, honey, and a bit of umami of roasted flavors are predominant. Even though the beer is over a month old, it's still a tad boozy and the alcohol notes are evident. I'd bet this beer would age well. I wish I had 3 or 4 to cellar and keep for a few years and god I can only imagine how great this beer would be. You still also get a tangy, orangey flavor permeating the whole taste here, too.

Aftertaste: Spiciness, a little caramel and alcohol notes linger long after you've swallowed this beer.

Mouthfeel: Here's where it differs greatly from many Belgian Doubles. Instead of being thick, heavy and having the weightiness of the typical Belgian Double, this beer has a mouthfeel that's more between a Pils, a thick, chewy Märzen and tart Weizen. I think the honey and Münchner malts give a slight round, earthy feel, while the coriander, Pils malts and Wheat give it the tang and dryness. It's an interesting combo, both hearty and refreshing.

Overall: I'm hard pressed to not say WOW to this beer. It's subtler though there are so many competing flavors of sweetness, orangey tanginess, honey, spicy coriander, wheat and caramel, yet they all in the end blend wonderfully to be a great beer. A combo of Witbier, Dubbel and Märzen. They slight booziness of the alcohol notes are the only drawback, but I imagine a year from now, this beer would be outstanding. At 7.5%, maybe a 2 month lager time would do this beer wonders. So maybe at a month old it's still too young to judge? The booziness is the only demerit of what really is a WOW beer.