Pairing Belgian Dubbels with Craft Chocolate
Dubbel is a brown Belgian ale of moderate strength (usually 6-8% abv) and a balance of malt and fermentation flavors. Dubbels usually carry the subtle influence of expressive Belgian ale yeast, including gentle fruitiness and baking spice notes. Gentle notes banana notes may accent malt character of toast, caramel, dried fruit, and mild cocoa, with background spice notes. Highly carbonated, medium bodied, and moderately dry.
Examples—Westmalle Dubbel, Chimay Première, La Trappe Dubbel, Rochefort 6, Ommegang Abbey Ale, St. Bernardus Prior 8, Maredsous Brune, Taxman Deduction.
Avoid When Pairing—Single origin dark chocolate with bold flavors or elevated bitterness or astringency will cause a harsh or thin perception with Dubbels. Bars that are too sweet can highlight how dry and relatively light these beers are.
Pairings to Check Out
Dark Milk—Dubbels find a perfect textural union with dark milk chocolates. The fullness and moderate sweetness of these bars play on the smooth mouthfeel of the beer while pulling forward its caramel and dried fruit flavors. Additionally, bars highlighting alternative sugars such as maple can work well too, as can sone lower to moderate percentage single origin dark bars, as long as they aren’t bitter or astringent. Lower percentage dark bars with gentle spice or fruit inclusions can work.
Baking Spice Inclusions—The dark sugar and fruit notes commonly found in Dubbels are easily complemented by gentle, warm baking spice inclusions like cinnamon or—in the case of the Ecuadorian bar below—ishpingo. The key is to make sure the spices notes are not bitter or astringent, as this will cause a harsh quality when combined with the dry body of the beer.
Low Acidity/Bitterness Single Origins—Single origin dark chocolates that are too bitter, astringent, or acidic will likely clash with the relatively dry bodies of Dubbels to create unpleasant harshness. However, low to mid percentage single original dark bars with a more caramel/dark sugar, classic chocolatey, and/or dried fruit profile can play off some of those same qualities in the beer and create an elegant combination.
Caramel or Dark Sugar Inclusions—This one is pretty easy and straight-forward, and amplifies bar of what makes the first two examples above work so well. Inclusions like caramel, toffee, unrefined dark sugar, maple, or related sugars can bolster the sweet-leaning flavors at the base of this beer and allow its more subtle accents to flourish.
While the overall chocolate flavor range that Dubbels will pair well with isn’t all that broad, that range does span quite a few different types of chocolate, making it fairly easy to find a good match for.