Konings Hoeven Dubbel Trappist Ale

Enough with the imperial stouts already! We're finally breaking back over into the Belgian side with this nice Abbey Dubbel courtesy of Konings Hoeven.

This brew pours dark brown with a slight red tinge and has a large slightly off white head. It is dominated by the smell of dark fruits, hops, and light barley malts with a subtle alcohol undertone. Unfortunately the taste does not stand up to the scent and is not nearly as complex. Similar in that it has flavors of plums, raisins, and alcohol but the transitioning is not nearly as fluid as some other dubbel's reviewed on this site. Not great, but good.

Appearance - 3.6

Smell - 3.5

Taste - 3.8

Texture - 3.5

Overall - 3.6/5

Konings Hoeven Dubbel Trappist Ale

And here's the other Konings Hoeven Ale. This should be more comparable to, I believe, the Rochefort 8. Here's to another find Belgian beer.

This beer pours a wonderful auburn color with a nice off-white head and a cloudy, gritty appearance - common for most Belgian ales. It smelled a little fruity - mostly citrus. It was also pretty hoppy and sugary - nice and sweet. The taste was very similar to the smell, but lacked in departments. Moved from sweet to bitter with notes of citrus. But, that's about it. A little lacking and a little disappointing. The texture was very disappointing though. It was far too carbonated for a dubbel, it was kind of bland, and not sweet or bitter enough to be classified as anything. It almost couldn't make up it's mind of what kind of beer it wanted to be.

This beer needs an identity. It's far too similar too all the other dubbels we've had - and that's comparing it to the more baseline dubbels. Not the upper-class ones like Rochefort. It's trying to find it's way - once it does, I'm sure it could be a real contender.

Appearance - 3.9
Smell - 3.7
Taste - 3.6
Texture - 3.4
Overall - 3.65/5

Brew Tasting the Twenty-third

Tonight, we're gonna try out the other beer in the Konings Hoeven family. We're still a little confused with the whole naming/company situation, but we're gonna go with Konings Hoeven for the purpose of this blog. Listing after the break.

1) Konings Hoeven Dubbel Trappist Ale

Magic Hat Howl

I picked this up a little randomly one night just to have a little dabbling in Magic Hat brew. This is Magic Hat's winter seasonal brew.

This brew pours very black and opaque. It also had a nice, full off-white head. It looked a lot like an Imperial Stout but it's not even close to the same league in terms of classification. It had a nice hoppy scent with a hint of chocolate and roasted barley and a slight touch of caramel. The taste was very underwhelming, though. A very basic intro that flows to bitter but there aren't any specific notes to detect. Very disappointing. The texture was also a little strange. Smooth to start, a tiny bit of carbonation, and this strange bite at the end. Nothing too special.

I enjoy me a nice winter seasonal brew. This was quite good, but the taste and texture left me quite a bit to desire. Maybe if they can support the low end of this brew with some more body and flavor, I think it would be a solid pick on the roster of winter brew.

Appearance - 4.1
Smell - 3.8
Taste - 2.9
Texture - 3.1
Overall - 3.48/5