So I’m all pumped for my first participation in The Session, and fate conspires against me so that I don’t get it done in time. Without going into excuses, I’ll forge ahead and make the entry. Let it be stated, however, that next month’s session will be done on time, dammit!
The theme for this month’s The Session is The Day Of The Dubbels. Now I’ve had a decent share of Dubbels, but I was hard-pressed to put into words what the style is. So I went over to the BJCP site to learn how they describe a Dubbel.
In short the BJCP described a Dubbel as a malty, rich-fruit-estered (raisin, plum, cherry aromas), softly-alcoholic Belgian brew, with minimal, if any, hop presence. The style guideline describes a dark amber to copper color range, with hues of red. I’ve seen some pretty chocolaty-red dubbels though. It sounded like this is really a beer that showcases malt and yeast … with a little bit of alcoholic warmth.
There’s also the idea of gravity (a measure of “stuff” in the beer) that some use to help identify what may be considered a Dubbel. If you consider the BJCP style guidelines, they specify Dubbels as having a gravity range between 1.062 and 1.075. Some beers reference gravity right in the name such as the classic Rochefort 8 or Maredsous 10. This number refers to an older Belgian system of referring to gravity. An 8, for example, described a beer that has a specific gravity of around 1.080 (gravity - 1 * 100).