12 Beers of Christmas: Westmalle Dubbel

Posted by Patrick under 12 Beers of Christmas

One of my favorite Trappist beers is also a good one for holiday celebrations — Westmalle Dubbel.

I remember this beer fondly from my travels in Belgium. During my first trip there, I attempted to try all of the Trappist beers I could find. Some (Westvleteren primarily) are scarce, but this one was almost everywhere. Since most restaurants served it, I had many first-hand chances to try it.

This is a great example of a food-friendly beer. It has a number of interesting flavors in it that play well with food: carmelized sugars, dark fruit, roasted malts and citrusy/vinegary aromas to name a few. I’ve had it with beef stew (commonplace in Belgium), bleu cheese covered burgers and London broil — this beer is exceptional with almost anything with beef in it. The abundance of flavors that unfold with each passing taste also makes it a great sipping beer.