Beer Tasting: Partizan Dubbel

Partizan Dubbel

There are only a handful of breweries in the UK that make a habit of producing Belgian-style beers; fewer still are the number of breweries who do it successfully. Partizan has now put out over 20 different Belgian-inspired beers and today we try one of their best, the Dubbel. I bought this beer at the brewery. It pours a mostly clear russet with a large, frothy tan head. The aroma is lovely, full of well toasted malts, hints of cocoa and caramel, touches of ripe and slightly dried fruits. Medium sweet with subtle Belgian yeast, the flavor has some dry but lightly doughy brown bread, ripe fruits, hints of grapes and berries, mild toffee and light bitter leaves. It is medium bodied with fine, massaging carbonation. Moderate sweetness greets you in the finish with a nice though mild dry, earthy bitterness to balance it out, along with dried fruits, further berries, hints of toffee, rich bread and background Belgian yeast. It is a great beer overall, very well balanced and exceedingly drinkable. I can't think of many - if any - other breweries in the UK that have made a dubbel to this standard. (Score: 4.0/5.0)