Westmalle Dubbel

 After 2 long days at work when I got home yesterday I fancied something strong and something to sip.

The Westmalle brewery is in the Belgium province of Antwerp, and brewed its first beer in 1836. The Dubbel is a 7% Trappist beer and apparently is still based on the 1926 recipe.

A dark brown pour with a thick tan head, the aroma is deep - plums, raisins, yeast but I was expecting more of a boozy hit to be perfectly honest.
The taste was also deep, again the plum, raisins, candy sugar - all the things you would expect from a beer of this style. Very carbonated, right ' til the end in fact, and it has a great solid body. The malts and sugar sweetness balance together so well, and accompany some great spice notes.
Again I was expecting a stronger alcohol presence, but never the less enjoyed it to the last drop.

a few new bottles

Managed a beer run early this week in Cardiff, and now i'm tingling with excitement at my purchases.
On my last visit i chatted with the owner about possibly getting in more US beers, and i was pleased to see a chance to try something other than the Pale ale from Sierra Nevada as on the shelves was their Torpedo IPA.
Turning the corner and amongst the very recently newly stocked shelves was Sharp's Monsieur Rock, which i think most beer drinkers who read blogs will have read about, a brilliant tasting and extremely drinkable bottle from Stuart Howe and Orval's Jean-Marie Rock apparently. I picked up three bottles, kept looking at the others on the shelf though, i might go back sooner rather than later.

 Next in the box was something i've seen around in books and online but never actually on a shelf, that is Young's Double Chocolate Stout. Joining it was Saltaire brewery's Cascade Pale ale 4.8%, Naylor's brewery Bradford Lad 7.2% strong ale/barley wine.
Ridgeway brewery's Bad King John, a 6% black ale which going by the label is supposed to exported to the US.

Now from the other side of the English Channel comes:
Saison Dupont 33cl 6.5%, Lindemans Faro Lambic 4.2%,
Maredsous Abbaye Blonde 6%, and Westmalle Trappist Dubbel 7%.

Again there was so many i picked up and left behind, 3 Monts, Bosteels Tripel Karmeliet, so many british breweries, Thornbridge's pilsner also was hesitantly put back (this time). He only had the Marzan smoked beer left no Urbock unfortunately, and i was hoping for a couple of different wheat beers but his German supplier is not as good as it used to be he tells me. And i got a free glass!