The Dubbel turns 100 this year. Dovetail Brewery is marking it by putting its own version in a can for the first time.
The Chicago brewery introduced Dubbel in its taproom in early 2024, where it became a fixture. The 6.4 percent Trappist-style ale is now available in 16-ounce four-packs, which Dovetail describes as a taproom-mostly release.
Process is where this one gets specific. The beer is double-decocted, a labor-intensive mashing method in which a portion of the mash is removed, boiled separately, and returned to the main vessel - a technique that builds malt depth and color through the kettle rather than through darker grain alone. Dovetail also used a ferulic acid rest and open fermentation, two choices that push the Belgian yeast forward. The brewery reports spritely black pepper notes and a gentle floral character as a result, and says the beer runs copper-colored and malt-rich, with flavors of cocoa, caramel and raisin bagel. Brewer Hagen says it "takes me back to Brussels."
Then there is the water. Dovetail says it built a Westvleteren water profile for the beer, chasing what it describes as a mouth-coating, dry minerality, with candi sugar drying the finish further. Water chemistry is one of the less visible levers in brewing, and reconstructing the mineral content of a specific Belgian abbey's supply is a deliberate move rather than a rounding error. Candi sugar works on the same problem from the other direction: it ferments out almost completely, adding strength without leaving body behind.
The historical framing is the brewery's, and it holds up. Westmalle introduced the modern Dubbel in 1926, and the style's centenary has been marked across Belgian brewing this year. For a brewery that bills itself as specializing in continental European styles and traditional methods, a decocted, open-fermented Dubbel is less a departure than a statement of purpose - the can itself reads "We brew like monks. (Minus the vows.)"
Four-packs are available now, primarily at the Belle Plaine Avenue taproom.
Source & Editorial
JollyPint independently prepares release articles using information published by breweries through newsletters, websites, and other official public communications. Brewery-supplied descriptions and tasting notes are reported as provided, while editorial context is added by JollyPint.