Vicaris Generaal Abbey Dubbel

*Note: this beer is ordered as needed. Please allow for a few days delay in the shipment of your order.Vicaris Generaal is a Belgian Abbey Double. A creamy tan head rises above a deep mahogany beer. The nose has sweet notes of roasted malt and delicate fruit the body is full and rich with a fine hop bitterness on the finish.Of Vicaris Generaal one reviewer writes: It is like drinking a rich piece a black forest cake with a spicy kick at the end. Vicaris Generaal is a robust russet garnet-colored Abbey Dubbel with a mocha lacy head. It has softly sweet malt gentle roasted bitterness hints of port dark fruit figs raisin chocolate and toffee! Generaal has a long elegant finish (8.8 ABV) . This sensational interpretation of the Abbey Dubbel style already rates a 95 on Ratebeer and an A on Beer Advocate.Moreover Vicaris Generaal has been featured in the World Atlas of Beer. Authors Tim Webb and Stephen Beaumont note this strong brown ale smells heavily roasted and tastes of bread crust falling somewhere between a Scotch and a dark tripel.The Rare Beer club chose to feature Vicaris Generaal in April 2012. We couldn’t agree more with their tasting notes:It pours a clear burgundy brown capped by a truly everlasting pale beige head. The nose offers plenty of fresh orange as well as a moderately woody spiciness. Expect other fruity notes to develop as well; we got hints of plum and nectarine and just a splash of grape must. The malts are definitely in charge delivering ample wafts of fresh baked bread and biscuits as well as a gentle sweetness. Look for a faint touch of roasted malt as well. There’s a wonderful Belgian double-ness that lets you know this is authentic ¡ªyou just can’t fake that character. This is a real Belgian beauty with some truly glorious yeast expression in the mix. On the palate we found that things really got interesting as the brewery’s unique take on the style became apparent; this is a rather dry double with more roastiness than expected. The Belgian yeast spiciness is quite prominent but not at all overbearing working wonderfully against the relatively minor sweetness. Look for a floral hoppy quality to come through as well. More fruits will emerge ¡ªwe got dark cherry and raisins supplemented by a soft suggestion of nutty molasses.