Dageraad Brewing Sri Lanka Belgian Dubbel at 7.5% ABV (C$8.95 at Sundance Wine Market, 650 ml, no bottle date or best before, acquired 28-May-2016, reviewed 8-Jun-2016)
Appearance: opaque medium amber with one finger of fluffy light beige head, good retention and moderate lacing. (3/5) Aroma: brown sugar, caramel, grainy malt, orange peel, dark fruit, spices. (7/10) Taste: moderate sweet, moderate bitter, mild growing tart. (8/10) Medium body, lively to moderate carbonation, lingering and building astringent finish. (4/5)
You call it Tamarind, I call it orange peel. But whatever you call it, I have to say I like it – a lot. I didn’t, at first: it starts off seeming like a fairly boring, watery, and not very sweet Dubbel. But as things progress, it becomes clear there’s more to this than initially meets the eye (or tongue). The citric oil bitterness continues to grow and grow, eventually turning this almost astringent, yet somehow not really tart, and very refreshing. Each sip is initially greeted by brown sugar and molasses (OK, fine, “Sri Lankan kithul treacle”) but the duration of that sweetness seems to shrink with each sip, and the orange peel (OK, fine, tamarind) bitterness just continues to grow. Really interesting and lots of fun. Dageraad continues to impress, and with a brew for which I had zero expectations. (15/20)
7.5/10 #ryansbooze ryansbooze.com
