St. Idesbald Dubbel
Brouwerij Sint-Idesbald

Copenhagen 19/4 2026. 33 cl bottle from Beershoppen web-shop. As "St. Idesbald Donker". Simple white label wit a horizontal brownish red stripe and the silhouette of a clergy man.

Pours clear dark mahogany with a big off-white head. Stable. Settles as a 1 cm thick layer of foam covering the surface of the beer. Substantial lacing.

Aroma is fairly intense with a sweet and malty odor mingling with alcohol and light tart notes. Caramel and toffee. A bit of brown sugar. Whiff of citrus and alcohol.

Light carbonation. Medium thick, oily, soft, smooth, lightly tinting texture.

Flavor is medium intense with a rather strong sweetness followed by a medium strong bitterness. Aftertaste is a bit tart with a pronounced sweet undertone. Lingers for a while. Finish is semi-dry with a little alcohol.

Sweet and a bit boozy. As a Dubbel should be.

Bottle 0.33L.
Dark brown body with a large, frothy, tan head, mostly lasting with nice lacing.
Moderate malty (caramel, toasted) and light yeasty aroma with notes of red (cherries) and dark (prunes) fruits and raisins.
Moderate-to-heavy fruity sweet, light-to-moderate bitter flavour; long-lasting sweet and light bitter finish: vinous feeling.
Medium body with oily texture; soft carbonation.

 

 

 

Pours deep ruby with caramel foaming head, disipation is moderate, lacing reasonably good.

Aroma is nice and spicy, a real wintery brew sense with this one. Figs are prevalent, peppery.

Taste is subtle, a little bit roasted, quite malty, and carries a lingering spicy aftertaste.

Feel is wet, effervescent, sharp and artificial, not at all what I was expecting and quite disappointed.

Overall this is nearly a very good beer, hides the 8% very well, if it had been a little easier on the tongue and smoother, it would be a contender.

Bottle conditioned. I've poured this one leaving most of the sediment in the bottle.
L- Very dark chestnut brown, small amount of sediment/haze, pours with a 5mm fine-bubble tan head. Holds up pretty well even after 15mins of slow-sippin'.
S- I've encountered this same a smell a few times over recent weeks (in beers of similar style/origin) and don't know how to describe it. It's somewhere over between the scent of dried druit (cherries/raisons?) and fresh cut timber.
T- Bright, some fruit then hops followed by an earthiness.
F- It feels every bit of 8.0%. It has a savoury pungency and is dryer than anticipated.
O- Different. Heavy, pungent, not sweet or rich, in fact savoury/earthy/woody. The latter savoury nature sets this apart from the usual expectations of a Belgium Dubbel, and I think being 8%ABV amplifies it. I expect this will work better for some than others.
BB: 11/05/2020 33Cl bottle.
ps the cap is covered down the neck with red Alu foil. As I gently prised off the cap something unusual happened, before the cap was even loosened, just one side lifted a fraction, the CO2 blew out the foil around the neck into a kind of foil bubble - rather than splitting it. A few drips of beer then started forming down the bottle from invisible ruptures in the foil. This is with the cap still 95% in place. This beer had rested for c. a month in a cool place and been handled gently - so, treat this one as a lively brew!

 

 

From Beergium. In Grinbergen glass. Playing Avernum 3. Flat and with a slight sourish touch. At least the abv is well hidden though

 

 

Monk's robe brown color, beige foam, scarce, and quickly vanishing.
Smell: cane sugar, red fruit, dark malts, a light toasted note.
Taste: sugary start, but it leaves space to a relatively finishing dryness.
Again fruit, and a decent caramel and malt.Carrob hints, in the adìftertaste too, aftertaste that is fruity and sugary, but with a bitter herbs note, peculiar and not unpleasant.
Not a masterpiece, but not bad.