The First Dubbel In History?

In 1856, the monks of Westmalle began selling small quantities of beer at the abbey gate, and beer-history accounts also associate this period with Westmalle’s first stronger dark beer. This beer is often described as a precursor to, or possible origin point of, the Belgian Dubbel style, although the modern Westmalle Dubbel is later and should not be treated as unchanged since 1856. Westmalle’s present Dubbel is a dark, red-brown Trappist beer. The 1856 development is important because it links Westmalle’s internal monastic brewing to both public beer sales and the later emergence of Dubbel as one of the defining styles of Belgian Trappist beer.