Tongerlo 6 Dubbel Bruin - Brouwerij Haacht NV

DoubleJ

California

3.76/5  rDev +10.6%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.75

No matter what happened, this was my first beer consumed in Belgium. Served on-tap in Antwerp, on to the beer:

A ruby brown color takes its shape in the glass. Topping it is a thick rocky head which retains for very long. Aroma offers soft plum, yeast, and minerals, so it's just about on target. The taste is a little more relevent, which brings plum, toasted bread, vague fruit, and...cherry? A kiss of banana gets noticed, but the alcohol does not. It's medium bodied, which finishes off this pleasant dark ale which I head with my lunch.

Serving type: on-tap

05-18-2013 00:02:18 | More by DoubleJ

Slickjoe

4.33/5  rDev +27.4%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

Bliss in a bottle.

A - Dark brown with a rust tinged head.

S - quite a few notes. Sweet, red fruity, spices and a bit of a marmalade scent.

T - Sweetish, bit of sugar with marmalade and fruit with a slight hop notes coming in the middle. Very smooth and drinkeable.

Fantastic beer for those preferring a "sweeter" beer.

Serving type: bottle

Serving type: bottle

11-02-2012 08:58:57 | More by Slickjoe

cpetrone84

Pennsylvania

2.8/5  rDev -17.6%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 2 | overall: 2.5

Pours a chestnut brown with ruby edges and a light toffe colored head. The nose has candied sugars and carmelized brown sugar with a light metal twang. Very water, light yeast note and some faint pear. The taste is heavily sugar based, carmelized brown sugar and candied sugars primarily with a touch of yeast, light nut and pear in the back. Watery in taste and in body, thin and low carbonation.

Serving type: bottle

05-10-2012 16:05:15 | More by cpetrone84

rarbring

Sweden

3.55/5  rDev +4.4%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

The beer is dark brown with hints of orange, an off-white head that leaves some curtains - and some lacing.

The smell is sweet, red fruits, spices and oranges.

The taste is sweet brown bread, porridge, candy sugar with red marmalade and fruit acidity.

Low carbonation, soft and smooth, not dry.

A nice dubbel, smooth and welcoming.

Serving type: bottle

03-16-2012 22:22:30 | More by rarbring

deebo

Minnesota

3.45/5  rDev +1.5%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5

Had this as part of a sampler at a Brussels restaurant for lunch. I love that each "sample" was at least 8 oz.

A-Pours with a good 3 fingers of dense tan head with significant staying power. Color is milk chocolate brown.

S-Some rich toasted malt and brown notes.

T-Malty with a fair amount of hoppy/bitter finish, but the toasted malt dominates.

M-A little thinner than I'd expect.

O-Surprised in the lack of complexity in this beer, thought their blonde was very good but this one was missing that same kind of depth.

Serving type: on-tap

01-29-2012 17:26:31 | More by deebo

Mar02x

Netherlands

3.18/5  rDev -6.5%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5

I just bought this bottle from my favorite liquor shop.

A - A clear reddish brown liquid an appetizing off-white head. No visible carbonation.

S - A faint smell of apple and yeast.

T - Fairly dry flavor, but balanced with hop bitterness. A simple beer with in the middle a metallic aftertaste. A fresh beer with light lemon extract and a little more malt flavor than the blond version.

M - Medium to high carbonation, after that the beer is slightly sticky. At the end a bitter finish.

O - A good beer but not impressive and good to drink.

Serving type: bottle

10-10-2011 17:39:38 | More by Mar02x

OWSLEY069

Pennsylvania

2.73/5  rDev -19.7%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 2.5

Pours a deep amber color with a white head. In the aroma, dark fruits consisting of figs and raisins. In the taste, dark fruits, but a bit watery and muted flavors. A smooth and lighter bodied mouthfeel, with a dry dark fruit in the aftertaste. Decent, but quite watery, which made everything a bit muted.

Serving type: on-tap

09-29-2011 20:31:49 | More by OWSLEY069

ThaCreep

Belgium

2.85/5  rDev -16.2%
look: 3 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 3

Dark reddish brown. Roasted malt nose very light. Palais syrupy caramel and liquorice which is more or less on the palate but without much conviction. Some dryness of roasted malt comes in the finish but it still sounds too artificial to be convincing. It was a bit like coming face to a model, a copy of the Leffe Brune, which is not really a compliment

Serving type: on-tap

09-21-2011 21:28:41 | More by ThaCreep

Bradthoc

Nevada

3.8/5  rDev +11.8%
look: 3 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

Beer pours a dark brown and slightly cloudy with heavy white head that holds for several minutes.

First smell of this beer is that of caramel, molasses and sugars, and maybe a soft note of some toffee. As the beer lingers and begins to warm throughout consumption, the caramel and molasses scents come through more.

Drinking the beer was an experience, and I recommend drinking this one slowly, and really take in the different flavors as they come and go throughout it. The beer is medium bodied and easy to drink several throughout the night. Slightly bitter, the caramel and molasses flavors mix well on the palate. A bit of a coffee/toffee/chocolate flavor combination comes through later, towards the end of the glass.

Serving type: bottle

02-04-2011 16:36:07 | More by Bradthoc

RuudJH

Netherlands

3.88/5  rDev +14.1%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

Colour dark red-brown, creamcoloured head.
Smell of dark fruits and caramel
Taste is bittersweet, but mainly sweet. It has some of the dark fruit notes, but mainly the caramel. Also something like milkchocolate, but only very faint. Interesting aftertaste: it's a bit spicy, but goes down smooth nevertheless.
Refreshing and warming.

Serving type: bottle

12-21-2010 13:23:06 | More by RuudJH

drpimento

Wisconsin

3.35/5  rDev -1.5%
look: 5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

Nice beer for a mild Belgian. Nothing big, but it wasn't meant to be. Did pour beautifully with a huge foamy frothy light tan head that lasts forever. and lots of lace. Color is a clear chestnut. Aroma is malty and very mild with vineous hints. Flavor's just the same. Body is decent and carbonation is good. Finish is decent and mild. Session beer.

Serving type: bottle

01-29-2010 19:22:30 | More by drpimento

Arbitrator

California

2.8/5  rDev -17.6%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 2

On-tap at 't Brugs Beertje in Bruges, Belgium.

A: Pours a ruby-mahogany color with striking carbonation up the glass. A creamy, light tan head perches upon the drink and forbids any sipping for about a minute before vanishing and leaving a few trails of lace behind.

S: Caramel, orange, yeast, and a hint of spice. Wholly unremarkable for a dubbel.

T: Caramel sweetness, yeast, oranges, some kind of dark fruit (raisins and figs, I finally decide) with a twinge of spice on the finish. Generally kind of a bland flavor, though.

M: Light-medium bodied, made fluffier by active carbonation. Slightly watery in flavor.

D: One of the low points, beer-wise, in Belgium. Very underwhelming for the style.

Serving type: on-tap

11-28-2009 07:56:39 | More by Arbitrator

Travlr

District of Columbia

2.68/5  rDev -21.2%
look: 3 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

Muddy brownish color with very effervescent white head, disappears quickly and leaves little lacing. Aroma of malt, nuts and caramel. Flavor is cloyingly sweet with lots of caramel. Not much to balance the sweetness, and little finish. Nothing special.

Serving type: bottle

10-31-2009 23:20:05 | More by Travlr

ccrida

Oregon

3.93/5  rDev +15.6%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Served in the Tongerlo logo chalice at some restaurant in Bruges where we enjoyed mussels for lunch, Tongerlo Bruin is a lightly hazed brown with a fluffy light tan head with long last, leaving great lace.

Smell is simple, sweet malty sugar.

Taste is semi-sweet malt, slight astringency and a hint of iron, tasty and well balanced.

Mouthfeel is light and dry, with smooth carbonation.

Drinkability is good, it's a nice bruin, enjoyable and very easy drinking. I appreciated the relatively lower ABV for a dubbel, particularly in the drinkability category.

Serving type: bottle

10-22-2009 04:17:31 | More by ccrida

tempest

Pennsylvania

3.53/5  rDev +3.8%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

On-tap in some town near Brussels. Served in a goblet, but not a great example. Call it a simple, cheap, but tasty dubbel or Belgian brown. A bit of cocoa and raisin flavor with a hit of sugary sweetness, this beer was fairly drinkable and very agreeable. I wouldn't suggest seeking it out, but it's not a bad option.

Serving type: on-tap

04-04-2009 23:53:25 | More by tempest

thierrynantes

France

3.53/5  rDev +3.8%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Sorry but this following comment is in french :

Appearance : bière à la robe brune, mousse abondante tenant bien
Smell : au nez des arômes de caramel
Taste and mouthfeel : ronde en bouche, légére torréfaction. Saveurs de réglisse, amertume équilibrée.
Drinkability : bonne bière dans style Abbaye brune

Serving type: bottle

11-27-2007 20:47:13 | More by thierrynantes

stcules

Italy

1.53/5  rDev -55%
look: 2 | smell: 1.5 | taste: 1.5 | feel: 1.5 | overall: 1.5

Dark mahogany color, beige foam, quite bubbly.
The smell: not. Cherries and grenadine, grape sugar, fruity, almost sirupy.. And cardboard.
The taste is pratically tamarind. It has also a quite boring strong carbonation. Sugary.
Wel I don't know if I'm unlucky, but all the Tongerlo I've tried were less than mediocre. I know the other reviews, quite good.
Well, maybe it is not my brewery.

Serving type: bottle

05-16-2007 20:53:45 | More by stcules

BlackHaddock

United Kingdom (England)

4.1/5  rDev +20.6%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Brown bottle, 33ml, best before mid May 2007, drank 1st feb 2007.

Poured into a Brugse "Staffe Hendrik" bowl (it was the closest I could get to the correct glass).

Deep red, almost purple in colour, not a double brown, as its name suggests, still looks good though, light tanned foaming head, which stays thick throughout the drink.

What can't you smell? The complexity is fantastic (I don't give 5's), the mixture of beery (hops/malt/yeast), chocolate (Belgian and dark, burnt molasses) and dried fruit (plumbs/dates/raisans/figs) aromas is a joy.

The aroma carries on into the taste, very impressive flavours all combine to give you a beer that you will not forget, and for all the right reasons.

Filling is a good word to use here, in the mouthfeel part, this is a beer you know you have had, any thicker and you would need a knife and fork to drink it with.

I will be trying this again, hopefuly in the draught form (I am visiting Antwerp and the Zythos Fest in March 2007).

Serving type: bottle

02-01-2007 14:26:14 | More by BlackHaddock

Viggo

Ontario (Canada)

3.53/5  rDev +3.8%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

Pours a slightly hazy red/orange, big tan head forms, nice lacing. Smell is sweet, fruity, with caramel and flowers. Taste is sweet as well, with caramel, chocolate, very malty, and a flowery bitter finish. Mouthfeel is medium to low bodied, with medium carbonation. Not bad, interesting dubbel.

Serving type: bottle

01-12-2006 20:07:51 | More by Viggo

DrJay

Massachusetts

3.45/5  rDev +1.5%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5

Brown beer with a big fluffy head, nice lacing. Malty caramel with a bit of chocolate and faint fruit. A bit of acidity showing through in the finish perhaps? Licorice and a bit of spice as well. Medium-light body with generous carbonation. Enjoyable, but fairly average for the style.

Serving type: bottle

01-07-2006 01:50:04 | More by DrJay

northyorksammy

Ontario (Canada)

3.48/5  rDev +2.4%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5

Some yeast, nut (from nutmeg) and malt aroma.Nice white head and brown body, lace in glass.thin-medium mouthfeel,strongly carbonated, though drinkable. Carmel, sugar,licorice,chocolate malt,tthough alcoholic. a nice one though average for this style.

Serving type: bottle

01-06-2006 04:09:11 | More by northyorksammy

paterlodie

Belgium

3.78/5  rDev +11.2%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Best before 27-05-05. Poors in great with huge thick and well lasting yellowbrown foam. Beercolor is brown with a red hint in it. Nose is very (yeast)spicy and further a caramellic maltnose. Taste issweet malty with again lots of caramel, spicy before going into a moderate bitterness. Mouthfeel is nice cause of the aromatic taste but also the carbon dioxide thats there in major proportions ads to the good moutfeel. Good and drinkable beer but there are better ones to find in the style, at least in my opinion.

Serving type: bottle

03-07-2005 16:25:06 | More by paterlodie

Danny2321

Massachusetts

3.58/5  rDev +5.3%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

This was my first of the two Tongerlo's on-tap in Antwerp. Served in a Tongerlo chalice.

I've had this one both in a bottle and from the tap, and as usual for imported beers, the quality on-tao in its home country was FAR superior than the bottle form.

Poured a dark reddish brown that was hazy with a nice head, and was incredibly smooth for a dark belgian ale. It could have been the fact I was several belgians deep already by the time I came across this one, but I liked this one. Sweeter than your typical belgians of the same style.

Serving type: on-tap

07-14-2004 14:19:57 | More by Danny2321

Andreji

Colombia

3.75/5  rDev +10.3%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

One of the two tongerlos which certainly follows a similar pattern.

Pour is dark, caramel/brownish with a cream/tan head, very porous or rocky that lasts (the yeast is there) and with certain bursts of carbonation visible alongside the glass.

The smell is rich, fruity and wheaty. The malt appears in the taste as an added sweetness- slight enough I mussay, and blends in properly with all the fruit ranges. Not very bitter at the end, and full bodied with little carbonation making it a nice experience.

Serving type: bottle

04-03-2004 17:16:36 | More by Andreji

saltydog

New York

2.95/5  rDev -13.2%
look: 4 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

Appearance: Reddish brown, decent head. Smell: Not much aroma, aside from a little candi sugar. Taste: Bland, somewhat thin tasting. Seems more of a simple brown ale (not Flander Brown!) than a Dubbel or Dark Strong Ale, but has no rummy, caramel complex malt flavors. Sweet, sugary finish.

Serving type: bottle

11-03-2003 21:40:19 | More by saltydog