When beer people worldwide hear the term ‘double’, an awful lot of them associate it with the ‘Belgian Dubbel’- style, as described by BJCP (Belgian Dubbel, category 18.B) and for competitions such as the European Beer Star (Belgian-Style Dubbel) and World Beer Cup, organized by the American Brewers Association (Belgian-Style Abbey Ale - Dubbel).
Aggregating and summarizing those descriptions results in the following beer type description:
Amber to dark brown color
Low to medium levels of fruity esters
Rather sweet, combined with medium bitterness
Top fermented
Normally bottle conditioned (meaning refermentation in the bottle)
ABV between 6 and 7.5 % ABV
But the intriguing questions are: ‘where does this term come from ?’, ‘how come drinkers worldwide almost automatically link the term to this type of beer ?’ and ‘can the term mean something else or used for other purposes ?’
First, let us have a look at the origins of the term. Actually, the term has been in use in the old continent for centuries, and this for all kinds of beers and beer styles.
A nice description can be found in the book by beer historian Raymond van Uytven, ‘History of the thirst’. His research about the 14-16th century shows that in periods of grain shortage, beers for the general public were brewed at lower strengths. Hence, the term 'double' beer was used for describing the stronger beer aimed at the more purchasing-powerful public, such as clergy and noblemen. They carried such names as ‘dubbel knol, dubbel klauwaart’, ‘dubbel kuyt’, etc.
The term has been used ever since, and refers to a beer that was/is heavier than the 'normal' beer that the brewery produced. Next to this, within Belgium there is a language issue attached to the term with Dubbel (Dutch), Double (French and English) and Dobbel (Dutch dialect). A book with Belgian beer names over the last century shows both elements, i.e. language and styles with such examples as : Dobbelen Uytzet, Dobbele Faro, Double Blanche, Double Pilsen, Double Saison, Dubbel Diesters, Dubbel Triple, Dubbele Christmas, etc.
However, over the ages, it was not the only term used to designate heavier beers. A few examples of other terms : ‘Thick vs thin’, ‘Heavy vs light’, ‘Big, good, strong vs small, narrow, simple, ordinary’, ’Burgher beer vs table beer’, ‘Export, imperial, stout, bock, extra, super, ultra vs session’ etc. Some brewers have even managed to combine some of these ‘heavy’ terms, e.g. Brouwerij Cassimon (Kalmthout) had ‘Extra Dubbelen Gersten’, Lust (Kortrijk) had ‘Double Bock’, Vandenheuvel (Molenbeek) had ‘Dubbel Export’ and Facon (Bellegem) had ‘Extra Stout’ and ‘Super-Extra’.
The second question to answer is : ‘how come drinkers almost automatically link the term to this type of beer? To find the answer we have to look at the trappists of Westmalle and the history of its brewing. The monks started brewing in 1836 and then brewed (seen from today's point of view) a ‘single’ or ‘Enkel’ in Dutch, i.e. a dark small beer. Of course, they didn't know at the time that they would ever brew stronger beer. As such, the name "Enkel" never came into use. By the way, from 1856 onwards this small beer existed in two versions, a dark and a light one. The ‘Dubbel’ was created when the monks started brewing stronger beer for sale, i.e. from 1921 (some say 1926). The inspiration came from the ‘single’ dark beer recipe they had been brewing for decades. Given it was stronger than the original recipe, they called it ‘Dubbel’, following the historical reasoning as explained above. And when the ‘Dubbel’ was launched they stopped producing the ‘single’ dark beer. Anyway, that Westmalle ‘Dubbel’ beer rapidly gained popularity and thus a strong following. As such it was copied over and over by lay breweries, especially from the end of the second World War onwards, who also called their similar beers ‘Dubbel’. However, for reasons unknown (except maybe to the marketing department), some brewers do not call their ‘Dubbel’ that any longer but use the term ‘Brown’ instead, e.g. Leffe and Maredsous or some combine both, e.g. Steenbrugge Dubbel Bruin.
An extra word about the Westmalle light colored beer now. In the 1950s, Brother Thomas Sas revamped and ‘upgraded’ the light colored ‘Enkel’, so that the monks could also drink a nice beer at the table instead of the small beer they had until then. Given it was stronger than the original with 4.8 % ABV, and with the term ‘Dubbel’ already in use, they settled for the term ‘Extra”. So, now Westmalle has the Extra, the Dubbel (7.0 % ABV) and the Tripel (9.5 % ABV).
Not many people know Westvleteren also used to have a ‘Dubbel’. A nice enamel publicity panel in the De Vrede shop is proof of that, and this is also mentioned in certain beer history books. Therefore, just for fun let us compare the situation between both. In the 1970s, Westvleteren produced 5 beers and the beers were numbered/named (more or less) on the basis of the Belgian degrees of strength. It started with a 2° abbey communal beer (never commericalised), actually a ‘single’ and a 4° Dubbel, which is correct given it was a stronger version of the single and stood at 3.3 % ABV. Next to that, they had a 6° (called Special), an 8° (Extra) and a 12° (Abt). As you know the 8 and the 12 still exist, although the recipe and the alcohol content have changed over time. So, Westvleteren Dubbel was lower in strength than the Westvleteren Extra, which is the opposite wording of Westmalle. But still, both show the term was/is used of beer that is stronger than the ‘normal’ beer. For even more fun and weirdness, look at Achel, our ex-trappist, whose strongest beer is called Extra (Bruin) and stands at 9,5 Vol% ABV. Hence, my conclusion is that Trappist monks like to put beer drinkers on the wrong footing every once in a while.
But back to ‘dubbel’.
Abbey style dubbels are actually the only ‘dark’ beer that were and are popular, especially from the 1960-1970s onwards. Hence, people associate the term mainly with that kind of beer.
All in all, only one Belgian brewery succeeded in ‘hi-jacking’ the term for another type of beer. And that is Palm (now part of Swinkels Family Brewers). In 1947, master brewer Alfred Van Roy launched the Dobbel PALM, a Speciale Belge with a slightly higher alcohol content (5.7 % ABV) than the normal PALM (5.2 % ABV) as an end-of-year party beer to celebrate the brewery's 200th anniversary. He offered it at no extra cost, as a token of thanks to all his loyal customers. The beer was so successful that it became an annual tradition. Sadly enough, the Speciale Belge is no longer popular, and the Dobbel Palm was brewed for the last time in 2021. But the use of the term again shows that it means/meant stronger beer than the normal one(s).
Overall, given that Belgian beers have been and continue to be quite successful abroad, the term ‘dubbel’ went international for a dark medium-alcohol beer type. But Belgium is not the only center of the beer world. Therefore, things may have been different in a few other great beer countries. Indeed, think e.g. of Germany with their tradition of Doppel Bock. Or think of the Czech Republic, where the law defines that strong beer (anything above 13° Balling) is to be called ‘Special’. The UK situation is not really clear, given their focus for a large part of the 20th century on tasty low alcohol beers, such that higher alcohol beers were scarce.
And when Vinnie Cilurzo (current owner and brewmaster of Russian River Brewing Company) at his then brewery called Blind Pig (slang for a police officer who turned a blind eye during Prohibition) brewed the brewery's "Second Anniversary Ale" in 1996, he was the first to use the term "double IPA", on the back label. Since then, this category has grown exponentially, not only in the US but internationally.
And that leads us to the third question : ‘can the term mean something else or used for other purposes ?’
Looking in historical books, I found a very few other definitions, but describing those would take us too far.
And the use for other purposes ? Well yeah.
Starting from the meaning of the term, i.e. ‘stronger, more, etc.’, we now have double dry hopped beers. It does not mean a double dose of hops, but adding hops for dry-hopping twice.
But there may be other uses still. Look at the US where the term ‘double barrel’ is getting a foothold, meaning the beer was put in two different types of barrel, e.g. wine and spirits. And what to think of Mikkeller’s Spontan Double Blueberry, a spontaneous beer with a generous double/extra dose of the fruit. Clearly, the inspiration of brewers is endless.
Overall, personally I am always in for a strong(er) beer, be it called ‘dubbel’ or something else.
Cheers.