Boulevard Nommo

I count myself lucky that Texas is one of the states that gets not only Boulevard Brewing's regular line up, but their premium series of Smokestack beers as well. I've been impressed with almost everything they have put out in this series of beers. Their newest Smokestack beer is a dubbel, but of course you know its not just any dubbel. This one has been brewed with Molasses and had spices like coriander, Cinnamon and star anise added as well. That's a lot of things going on, but would it come together harmoniously or fall flat on its face?

The Beer: It weighs in at 8.1% and pours a deep rich garnet color with a thick dense of cafe colored foam. The nose is spicey, I really get some coriander here, maybe some star anise. Fruity esters, banana and cloves from the yeast used. Full bodied, and those same banana and clove esters, coriander. I was expecting this beer to be sweet, but it was surprisingly dry. It tastes of fall to me. Notes of coco, and cinnamon show up as it warms. Rich, flavorful, multiple levels. Spices get you, tickling the back of the throat not unpleasantly. Continuing to warm up allows even more coco flavors to pop out. This is a seriously rich complex beer. The dry finish really works helping to keep the beer from being sweet. This definitely did not fall on its face, it worked and worked well. This gets a B+ from me.

Sierra Nevada Ovila Dubbel

I've always had a soft spot for Sierra Nevada Brewing. Their Pale Ale introduced me to hoppy beers many years ago and the first beer I ever brewed was a clone of that beer. Their Bigfoot is one of the best American Barleywines around and I always pick up a six pack when it comes out. Over the last year they've really upped their game. Last year it was the release of their special 30th anniversary beers. This year they've come out with a series of beers called Ovila Abbey Ales.
Ovila Abbey ales are a collaboration between Sierra Nevada and the monks at the Abbey of New Clairvaux. SN's goal is to brew beers based on monastic tradition, similar to many abbey ales in Belgium. While these aren't Trappist Ales (they aren't brewed at an abbey), they closely follow traditions set forth by them. A portion of the proceeds from each Ovila beer sold will go towards restoration projects at the abbey. Its very cool project by a great brewery and its one that I fully support. SN plans to brew a Saison (release in June) and a Quad (release in Nov), but the first release is their Dubbel.
The Beer: The beer weighs in at 7.5% and pours a chestnut brown with a thin taupe colored head. Malty, fruity, figs, caramelized sugars, yeast esters on the nose. Mouthfeel is full bodied with a creaminess to it. Fruity esters, caramel, brown sugar, figs, spices, cloves (from the yeast?), peppery. Very fruity a little bit on the sweet side, a little too sweet in my mind. Its not a bad beer, but the sweetness has nothing to balance it really. This one gets a B- from me. Worth picking up, but not sure I would pick it up again.

Beer Dinner: Otter Creek Dubbel

Time does indeed fly. Without even meaning too I've realized how long it has been since I've posted on the blog. Not due to lack of things to write about (I have plenty) but just lack of time. Hopefully this will be a great week to get caught up. This post is about a beer/food pairing I cooked up about a week ago. I paired the food with an Otter Creek Dubbel, so first a little on the beer.
The Beer: Poured the beer into my Maredsous glass which I think was appropriate. It poured a chestnut brown with a thin head. The nose is caramel, malty, fruity, yeasty. It has a medium mouthfeel a little on the week side. Not a lot of effervescence, it slides and slithers along the tongue. Rich and malty with yeasty and rye bread notes. Some dark figs and raisins, but not much. Its a simple beer with a little but not a lot of character. This one gets a B- from me.
The Food: I cooked up some lamb with a jalapeno jelly marinade, sat it on top of some sauteed spinach (the lamb was again topped with a dab of the jalapeno jelly) and served with what was supposed to be corn pudding pie, but ended up just corn pudding. The pie crust didn't turn out how I wanted it (lessons learned). I thought it was a nice pairing with the beer. The rich malty bready, and slight sweetness of the beer complimented the slight heat of the jalapeno jelly and the richness of the lamb. I think if the Dubbel had just a bit more of the figs and raisins it would have been an even better pairing, but this was pretty solid as the beer complimented but didn't overpower the food.

Abita Abbey

This past Easter my wife surprised me with a special beer to celebrate the day with. A beer from Louisiana's Abita brewing. This is the second of Abita's Big Beer series and I enjoyed the first so I was pretty excited to see this one, their Abbey Ale. There is more to this beer than just whats in side though. For every bottle sold 25 cents goes to St. Joesph's Abbey, in Convington, LA. Personally I think that's pretty neat. Having said all that, I know you want to know how whats in the bottle tastes.
The Beer: This Dubbel style ale comes in at 8.0% abv, and pours a slightly cloudy brown with hints of red streaks throughout. Its capped by a very stark white head. The nose is of candied sugar, plums, brown sugar even, cloves, caramel. The mouthfeel has some effervescent quality to it. There are notes of candied sugar, yeast, breadyness, apricot, some cloves in there. There a sourness and tartness there. There are some dark fruits like raisins, and plums, but not much. I would have liked to have seen a little more of that. There's a sense of burnt sugar in the mouth as well, that's not unpleasant. A good beer that gets a B from me. Here's what the folks at BA had to say.

Lost Abbey Lost and Found

This is the last Lost Abbey beer that I had while I was in California (fear not, I brought a couple back home). I got to say I've been impressed by Lost Abbey's solid offering's. So far neither of the previous two weren't anything spectacular, but they were quite good. That was about to change.
The Beer: This is Lost Abbey's version of a Belgian Style Dubbel. Its made with added dextrose and raisin puree. It weighs in at 7.5% abv. The beer pours a dark cloudy brown with a quarter inch cafe colored head. Raisins, figs, candied sugar. A thick mouthfeel with figgy notes and raisins, brown sugar, molases and plums. This is an awesome beer, rich, toasty, complex. Great malt flavors balanced with dark fruits. Great great beer, gets an A+ from me. Here's what the folks at BA think.

The Session #2: Dubbels

The day is finally upon us, The Session #2 has arrived. The first session was a blast as the theme was "Not your Father's Stout". For those new to the discussion The Session is a virtual Beer Tasting held the first Friday of the month. All the beer bloggers, the world over, do tasting, write up and the host posts every one's tasting in a round up a couple of days later. This month the host is Alan over at A Good Beer Blog, the theme is Dubbels. My foray into this months discussion is Ommegang's Abbey Ale.
The Style: The Dubbel style has its roots in Trappist brewing, although many American Craft brewers are making Abbey ale, which for the most part are Dubbels. These beers are of moderate strength around 8%, but always less that the more robust Trippels. These beers are dark, malty, spicy, with low hops.
The Brewery: Ommegang is based in Cooperstown, New York, was founded in 1997 and is renown for creating some of the best Belgian Ales in the States. Simply put they are Belgian ales. They use traditional Belgian style malts, spices, and brewing methods to create a small collection of reportedly amazing Belgian Beers. Among other things they also promote the greatness that is Beer with Food, something I am passionate about.
The Beer: I searched a long time before selecting a Dubbel that I wanted to taste. At first I was going to go for a Belgian Beer, but most of those I have been lucky to taste, either here, or when I was in Brussels last year. So I decided to search for something new, something I had never tasted. Lucky me then that Ommegang brewery has just started distribution to my fair city! I had heard nothing but raves about this brewery so when I saw their Ommegang Ale on the shelf of my local Spec's I knew this was THE BEER!
The beer came in a large bottle with the words 'Bottle Conditioned' printed on the front of the colorful label. The beer weighed in at a nice 8.5% and poured a deep amber with just small streaks of red flashing through when held up to the light. There was a nice thick, dense quarter inche taupe head capping this amber nectar. The nose was fruity, musty, raisins. The mouth showed good carbonation, smooth, with notes of coffee, dark chewy raisins, concentrated dark grape flavors, leaving a crisp long finish. A bit of espresso bitterness showed itself right at the finish. As the beer warmed the dark fruit flavors showed up even more prevalently, expressing itself in what I would call a thick beer. I really enjoyed this beer and am glad that Ommegang has made its way down here. Can't wait to try their other beers. Here's what the folks at BA had to say.
Now go over to A Good Beer blog and check out the other Dubbel Posts.