Not so long ago, I walked into the local Total Wine store and saw something that brought my heart great delight: a shelf full of beers from Seattle's Pike Place Brewery. Of course, I pounced upon them with the utmost vigor, and brought home a good number of them. One of the first I snagged was Pike Tandem Double, a beer that I thought I hadn't tried before, then found I had, then was surprised to learn I hadn't.
If I have you thoroughly confused by now, rest assured I haven't had one too many brews and gone off the deep end. There is a completely logical explanation for all this. You see, I bought my bottle of Pike Tandem Double and brought it home, thinking I had never tried it. To be sure, though, I checked my spreadsheet upon which I record all the different beers I've tasted over the years, and there it was, staring me right in the face. I suspect I tried at the Pike brewpub in Seattle when I visited in 2005.
So, I thought I'd tried it, until I found I hadn't. That's because when doing a little research on the beer for this review, I found out that Pike actually reformulated Tandem Double since that time, adding coriander and swapping out the house English yeast for a more authentic Belgian one. That made this a different in my bottle, and there you go.
At any rate, Pike Tandem Double is named after a bicycle built for two. It's made with Crystal, roasted, Munich, wheat, and pale malts and hopped with Mt. Hood and Northern Brewer varieties. Alcohol by volume is 7%, and the beer is made and sold year throughout the year. This is a beer fashioned after the Belgian Dubbel style.
Pike Tandem Double pours to a murky brown color with a thick, creamy head formation and a slightly sweet, nuts and molasses nose. The palate is medium in body but lush with dark malty flavors: toasted nuts, molasses, raisin, fresh-baked chocolate chip cookies, coriander spice, and a hint of smoke. There's a subtle funky Belgian yeast character, too, though not as much as I'd like in a dubbel. The beer finishes nicely dried by an herbal minty hop bitterness and light alcohol warmth.
This is a very nicely done beer. The soft, dark malty notes are delicious and very well balanced off in the finish. I think I'd like a bit more yeastiness in my dubbels, but that said this is still a delight. A bargain, too at, about five bucks for a 22-ounce bomber bottle. If I were you, I would make double time to pick some up. You'll be glad you did, whether you haven't tried it before, have tried it, or, err, haven't tried it.
And remember, try a new beer today, and drink outside the box.
*Pricing data accurate at time of review or latest update. For reference only, based on actual price paid by reviewer.
(B)=Bottled
(D)=Draft