random beer review: Vals Paterke Dubbel

I picked up a beer I hadn't previously tasted today, and I am currently tasting it. It's a very small volume local beer.

The Vals Paterke Dubbel (Double) comes in at 8% ABV

Visual

In the glass, it is a light brown beer, which, when held to the light even becomes reddish. It it obviously clear, since you can almost read the brand name on the other side of the glass through the beer:

The foam is fine, and remains stable on the glass.

Aroma (important note, I'm tasting this beer at room temperature, 25°C)

You don't smell much in this beer, some sweet notes

Flavour

In the flavour the sweetness comes through clearly. It is a typical double, sweetish, a slightly spiced note at the back. The flavour is nice and light. This isn't a overpowering beer, but not every beer is made to sip an hour over in front of a lighted fire in the middle of winter. This is an ideal beer to be drinking when you are out with friends, and drinking something a bit heavier than a regular lager.

Aftertaste

In the atertaste there is a clear note of caramel, I taste a little bit of iron, but that's just at room temperature, at a regular 12°C you wouldn't notice it.

Food pairing

This beer will go with all sorts of meat dishes, especially the lighter ones, since the beer will not overpower the dish.

This is a good beer, a drinking beer

Something about the name of the style

There are many stories about what's the story behind the names Double and Triple for beers. To me the one which makes most sense is that it has to do with the amount of malt which was used.

Even these days, a blond beer is still sometimes referred to as a single. These days "blondes" are around 5-6% alcohol, but a century ago this would have been closer to 3%.

This is a single: 1 dosage of malt. A double than becomes a beer which uses twice the amount of malt, and therefore arives around 6% alcohol (which these days is considered the lower boundary), and a Triple uses 3 dosages of malt, and therefore arrives around 9% alcohol, which is spot on these days.