Noirish Belgian strong dark ale brings honeyed molasses malting to lightly coriander-spiced dried fruiting. Candi-sugared blood orange, white fig, caramelized apple, black plum, black cherry, peach and praline illusions serenade fruitcake midst. Sherry dots muddled brown-sugared mocha-fruited finish.
- Author: John Fortunato
- Brewery: THE LOST ABBEY, SAN MARCOS, CA.
- Category: Beers A-Z
- Comments: None
Musky monastic-styled Belgian dubbel, “brewed with raisins,” works sour dried fruiting into phenol hop coarsening and a sharp metallic sheen. Tempered raisin persuasion picks up light molasses-sapped caramel malting, but expectant candi-sugared sweetness lacks. Vinous green and yellow grape tannins bring mid-palate pucker to fig-dried banana breading. A hint of bourbon, almondine and chestnut found in deep recess.
- Author: John Fortunato
- Brewery: ROCK ART BREWERY, MORRISVILLE, VT.
- Category: Beers A-Z
- Comments: None
Diverting Belgian strong ale stays light and fizzy on the tongue, but bitter and dry on the backend. Despite brown-sugared Belgian yeast influence, molasses tea caking, earthen grain pungency and dessicated fig-date-plum conflux seem closer to dewy English pale ale. Gingerbread, cinnamon and hazelnut make cameos.
- Author: John Fortunato
- Brewery: CRICKET HILL BREWERY, FAIRFIELD, N.J.
- Category: Beers A-Z
- Comments: None
Engaging 2011 limited edition tap-only strong ale pleats funky Belgian-styled candied yeast with creamy banana-pureed apricot-peach-pear fruiting and sweet clove-coriander spicing to contrast sharp peppery-hopped bitterness. Astringent alcohol acridity layered below expressive brown-sugared fruited spices.
- Author: John Fortunato
- Brewery: CLIPPER CITY BREW. CO., BALTIMORE, MD.
- Category: Beers A-Z
- Comments: None
- Author: John Fortunato
- Brewery: SIERRA NEVADA BREWERY, CHICO, CA.
- Category: Beers A-Z
- Comments: None
In 1-pint 9-ounce bottle, ambitious collaboration between Sierra Nevada and the monks at New Clairaux Abbey layers Belgian chocolate-spiced caramel malts above black-peppered purple and red grape esters to musty basement-like yeast funk. Brown-sugared clove spicing trickles into ancillary fruitcake, raisin and prune illusions. On tap at Andy’s Corner Bar, sharp dried-fruited copper-toned Belgian-styled dubbel retained creamy brown-sugared dark-spiced tingle. Tannic grape skins cushion fig, raisin, and cherry fruiting. Recessive banana-clove sweetness contrasts peppery hop sop.
- Author: John Fortunato
- Brewery: CAPTAIN LAWRENCE BREWERY, PLEASANTVILLE, N.Y.
- Category: Beers A-Z
- Comments: None
Rangy rust-hued Belgian dubbel ale may pass for chic sour ale. Unsweetened dry-smoked ‘Italian chestnut honey and jam’ overridden by tart orange-dried Courvoisier penchant, oaken cherry sourness, cider-y white wine sharpness, and fizzy carbolic pep. Mild herbal spell wavers through fruit-spiced Abbey-styled moderation.
- Author: John Fortunato
- Brewery: UNCOMMON BREWERY, SANTA CRUZ, CA.
- Category: Beers A-Z
- Comments: None
Truly ‘uncommon’ Belgian-styled dubbel delicately combines spicy herbal fruits for amber-hazed curry-like extravaganza. One of the finest canned libations from the Left Coast, this unfiltered medium body piles plentiful peppery hops atop dry Kaffir lime zest, sour lemongrass tartness, and candi-sugared apple-watermelon sweetness. Coriander and Thai spice flitter through vanilla-butterscotch midst before alcohol-whirred fungi-like Belgian yeast strain commandeers muted orange-bruised anise-backed finish. Pour slowly to avoid risk of over-carbonation.
- Author: John Fortunato
- Brewery: BROUWERIJ VAN STEENBERGE, ERTVELDE, BELGIUM
- Category: Beers A-Z
- Comments: None
Admirable amber-browned Abbey ale in stubby, chubby brown bottle not as winey as most Belgians, relying instead on casual coffee bitterness, candi-sugared fig-date-cherry waver and cereal-grained carrot caking to frail rye-dried barleycorn spine. Mouthwateringly medicinal 8 % alcohol sway deepens caramel-spiced dried fruited finish.
- Author: John Fortunato
- Brewery: ABDIJ-ABBAYE, OUDEMAARDE, BELGIUM
- Category: Beers A-Z
- Comments: None
- Author: John Fortunato
- Brewery: BROUWERIJ DE SMEDT, OPWIJK, BELGIUM
- Category: Beers A-Z
- Comments: None
- Author: John Fortunato
- Brewery: ALLAGASH BREWING, PORTLAND, ME.
- Category: Beers A-Z
- Comments: None




