Flying Fish Belgian Style Dubbel

Review Date 9/26/2000  Last Updated  5/14/2012  By John Staradumsky

  Style: Abbey Dubbel   Brewery: Flying Fish   Country: USA   State: New Jersey   $ Per OZ: $.12 (B)   ABV: 7%

Belgium is all the rage these days. In fact, Belgium has been all the rage with me for quite some time, in more ways than one. Certainly, I love Belgian beers and have for years. Whenever I read a beer review or someone's account of Belgian beers, nothing drives me crazier than to see them described as Belgium beers. I know it's a small quibble, but it's a pet peeve of mine. Belgium is a noun. A place, a country specifically. Belgian is an adjective, and is used to describe beers from Belgium.

There, now that I've gotten that out of the way, we can move on to another aspect of Belgian beers, and that is their increasing presence in the United States. In addition to an ever-growing number of Belgian imports, we're also seeing a greater number of domestically brewed examples of Belgian styles. You'll see these described as Belgian-style or perhaps Abbey-style ales.

Flying Fish Belgian Style Dubbel pours into my bowl-shaped Ommegang beer glass to a deep murky brown color with a thick and creamy head formation. One of the advantages of this type of wide-brimmed glass is that it allows you to really appreciate the aroma of the brew, and in this case there's lots of that: slightly sweet and nutty-malty. The palate is rich, very chocolatey, chewy, nutty, slightly sweet and a tad fruity. The finish is fairly well balanced, perhaps leaning slightly to the sweet side. A touch of licorice is perceptible too, along with some warming alcohol sensation. If anything is missing its a Belgian yeasty character, at least to my taste. That doesn't prevent this beer from being very complex and very delicious.

A good beer to accompany hearty soups, or to be served with a rich dessert.

Update: May 14, 2012: Last year, Total Wine started carrying Flying Fish beers here in Georgia. This was a most welcome development for me as I hadn't seen them since I left Rhode Island (and even then I had to buy them in New Jersey).

Flying Fish Dubbel seems not quite so amazing as I recall it from 2000, but it's still a tasty example of the style. Dark brown in color with a soft dark malty nose, the beer has a sweet dark malty palate infused with fruity raisin. The nutty chocolate malt is there if perhaps a bit less so, and that makes me miss the Belgian yeasty notes a bit more.

I've brought the beer down a peg from 5 to 4 stars, but I still enjoy it all the same.

Glad I tried it?  T

Would I rebuy it??