Trappist Dubbels & Chocolate

There are two Valentine’s Day-related observations I have regularly made with regards to the partnership of beer and food, almost since the day I began obsessing on the subject. The first is that perhaps the most food-friendly beer style in the world is the abbey-style dubbel, most famously but by no means exclusively brewed by the Trappist abbeys of Belgium.

The second is that Rochefort 8 may very well be the world’s finest complement to chocolate.

With the day of roses and chocolate coming up tomorrow, I thought today would be a great time to put both theories to the test, and double down by pitting what are likely the world’s two most famous dubbels against one another, both alone and with a couple of varieties of high-end supermarket chocolate, specifically Lindt Excellence 78% Cacao and Caramel & Sea Salt.

Served at a couple of degrees Celsius below cellar temperature, both beers present well in the glass with decent clarity and thick, lasting collars of beige foam, the Westmalle more a deep brown and the Rochefort a lighter reddish brown. On the nose, the Rochefort definitely has the edge, showcasing a rich and sweet aroma of dark and milk chocolate complemented by a smattering of brown spice notes, mostly nutmeg and cinnamon, and a whiff of sweet orange. The Westmalle, by contrast, has a more dense aroma with notes of dark chocolate, rye bread, raisin, and just a hint of sweet liquorice candy.

On the palate, the less potent Westmalle has notes of molasses and cocoa on the semi-sweet front, which turns more dark chocolate and spice cake in the mid-palate, with the chocolate continuing to strengthen towards the soothing and warming finish. The Rochefort, unsurprisingly given its almost 2.5% greater strength, is both sweeter and more mouth-filling, with a range of chocolate flavours stretching from milk to mocha to dark, kept skillfully from cloying by a drying rather than bittering hoppiness, all ending in a lingering mix of creamy chocolate notes.

With the 78% Cocoa chocolate, the drier Westmalle actually performs more ably, its dark chocolate notes better balancing the smooth, oily, and very lightly bitter flavours of the bar. Which is not to say that the Rochefort fails in the pairing, just that its relative sweetness tends to overpower the chocolate just a bit.

Partnered with the Caramel & Sea Salt bar, however, the Rochefort soars with complex chocolate character not just matching the sweet, salty, caramelly chocolate, but actually elevating the flavour of the bar even as the chocolate brings forward new spice flavours in the beer. The Westmalle, however, suffers due to the sweetness of the chocolate, with its rich maltiness becoming somewhat muted and flat. Not bad, exactly, but a lesser experience than that of the chocolate or beer alone.

In conclusion: a) Both beers are excellent, as noted below; b) Pair the Westmalle with less sweet chocolates, the Rochefort with more sugary confections, including chocolate cake – which is a simply wonderful pairing I have experienced and advocated for many a time; and c) Some 30 years after I first made them, I stand firmly by both of the declarations stated at the outset of this column!

Westmalle Dubbel 95 ($4.65 - $6.90/330 ml)

Trappistes Rochefort 8 96 ($5.45 - $8.50/330 ml)