beer review: Westmalle dubbel

Yesterday I had an appointment, but due a mistake on my part, I arrived a couple of hours early, meaning that I had quite some time to kill.

Luckily I had brought a book, and equally luckily, I found a nearby cafe with a well covered terrace (it has started to rain)

I ordered myself a Westmalle dubbel. Westmalle is one of the Trappist beers, and the Westmalle Abbey is actually the root from which all currently existing Trappist abbeys stem (The order was founded in France, but those older French abbeys ceased to exist after the French revolution.

The beer has a distinct sweet flavour, and a mouthfeel which is nice and thick, making it feel "warm" in some sense, which makes it also my go to beer in winter. At 7% ABV, it's full of flavour, and no gain could be made by adding more alcohol

Having a long time to kill, and still having to go to the appointment afterwards (and needing to drive), I took a long time drinking the beer, experiencing it throug different temperature ranges. Beer is best consumed at about cellar temperature, some people swear by room temperature. If you only like beer when it comes out of the fridge: you just don't like beer!

Cheers