Belgian-Style Dubbel Nitro
Left Hand Brewing Company

 

Poured from a 16 oz can into a tulip glass.

Pours a deep dark copper color with a finger of creamy khaki head. As with most nitro beers, the head doesn't dissipate and it leaves a shroud of lacing around the glass.

The aroma brings loads of plums and raisin bread, with just a hint of fig. There's some light notes of almonds and coffee with the absolute foggiest idea of caramel.

The flavor follows the nose, bringing notes of plums, raisin bread, and coffee with just a hint of caramel. A bit metallic, and a tad too sweet.

The feel is very light bodied, yet somehow creamy. Not the best feel for the style.

Overall, a decent Dubbel that has most of the flavors and aromas you'd expect of the style. Unfortunately I don't think it works so well as a Nitro beer.

 

I am CANtinuing where I had left off during New Nitro (N2) CAN Mother's Day Beer Sunday (Week 742) - drinking & reviewing Nitro (N2) CANs in support of The CANQuest (tm). I am glad to have you along for the ride!

From the CAN: "Belgian-Style Dubbel Ale"; "Super smooth with rich malt flavors and a dry finish"; "Good to go from the CAN[,] Like a pro in a glass"; "30 IBU"; "Ingredients[:] Rocky Mountain water, Malted Barley, Malted Wheat, Hops, Yeast"; "Employee Owned. Righteously Independent (tm)"; "Caution: Contents under pressure. Keep cold. Avoid shaking. Point away from self and others when opening."; Brewed on the banks of the might St. Vrain/Est. 1993".

The Crack! of the vent was met with a loud Psssshhh! as the N2 energized from within. This always strikes me as a tad disCANcerting, but I pressed on with an inverted Glug to ensure both a cascade & a nice head. It worked & settled into a finger of dense, foamy, light-tan head with excellent retention. Color was Brown to Dark Brown (SRM = > 22, < 27) with NE-quality clarity & mahogany highlights. Nose had a definite, pronounced malty sweetness, almost syrupy. Hmm. Mouthfeel was big, full, thick & creamy. Duh. The taste had a pleasant sweetness, like a cross between johnnycake and brown bread. Mmm. I wonder what it might taste like without the N2 charge. Finish was semi-sweet, very bready. Yum. I CAN see having this one again, although I am more CANurious as to what it would be like with simple CO2. YMMV.

16 oz 2019 can dumped into a Belgian snifter.
Pours near black with a tall, durable, creamy beige head. Terrific lacing.
Sweet, complex aroma and flavor with plenty of dark dried fruit.
Creamy smooth, but the body is a touch to thin.

canned 03-13-19

L-The beer pours a clear almost cola brown with the accompanying nitro head which settles to half finger of light tan mousse. This head continues to persist as I type.
S- The nose is mostly dark fruit like ripe plums and is of moderate intensity. There is a bit of musty yeastiness behind the dark fruit.
T-Dark fruits are less strong on the palate. There is a decent malt presence here which mixes with the dark fruit and overtakes it in the aftertaste. This malt is of a light sweet roast becoming almost chocolatey in the linger.
F-The mouthfeel is on the lighter side of medium and a little light for the style. Carbonation is light after the pour and almost still.
O- Overall its and interesting beer. It's not perfect for the style by any means, but is certainly drinkable as it is. A beer I won't have any problem drinking, but I'm not likely to repurchase.

 

 

 

Interesting variation on mouthfeel

 

From the 16 oz. Nitro can with a best by date of 3/28/19. Sampled on January 12, 2019.

The appearance is reddish amber with a tremendous, silky Nitro-driven tan head and lacing.

The aroma got better as it sat. At first I got this unappealing malt sweetness with a kind of sour milk sensation. But that bad part seemed to fade and it became more like a musty, roasted malt sweetness with raisins.

Mouthfeel is medium and smooth.

The taste is at first sweet and roasty but there is also this kind of attic or cellar mustiness that comes into play. Sort of a letdown for me because of that, I hoped for more dark fruit, sweet roasted malts, and light meaty fruits. All of that was hard to find.

 

 

 

Poured hard, and it very reliably created the cascading nitro bubble effect. It settled into a small but tight and creamy white head on top, with lots of lacing.

This smells like candy sugar, fruitcake, roast, coffee, and dark fruit.

I very rarely like nitro beers, and this honestly doesn't change my mind a whole lot. The typical tastes you'd expect from a dubbel are pretty muted and flat. Nitro always seems to do this for me. I do get some nice fruity breadiness, and a touch of roast and other malt. It's just kind of boring with the nitro addition.

This is light bodied, but very creamy. It's not super drinkable, though.

This is not really a style that needed to be nitro'd.

 

16oz nitro can. Poured out a very dark amber color with a huge, khaki-colored head of foam. It smelled of candy sugar, dark dried fruits and coffee. Sweet fruitiness with coffee and chocolate.