Unibroue 16

Formerly brewed at Unibroue (Sapporo)
Style: Belgian Strong Ale
Chambly, Canada

Love what these guys can do. Surely their specialty strong ales are sometimes repetitive, but I still like them. This might be lightly spiced. I think there may be a touch of coriander and cinnamon along with the faintest touch of ginger? Sour cherry aroma. Nice esters! Balance towards bready sweet aroma, with yeasty spices mixed in. Complex flavors difficult to describe. I wish I could brew like this. Fantastic.

Orange with dense creamy white head. Aroma is slightly buttery with caramel, cider, and a hit of alcohol. Taste is heavily spiced but well blended with the malt, and there is a definite alcoholic presence with the warming that entails. $8/22

rich murky caramel colored with a large creamy light tan head. aroma of caramel, floral, licorice. foamy, carbonated mouthfeel. medium-full bodied palate. typical unibroue yeastyness with a spicy, banana, clove, licorice flavor. very nice but no surprises.

[310-20070510] Bottle. Boozy veggie aroma. Hazy, brown body with a medium-lasting head. Citrus hops aroma with some spice, very boozy, nice aftertaste. Medium-full body. Good blending.

Bottle consumed on 5/26/07
Let this one sit for a couple months after its release and I’m betting it was for the better. The head wasn’t as huge and domineering as many Unibroues, but still showed fair retention and moderate lacing. You can (almost) always count on Unibroue for extremely well-done bottle conditioning. The head is off-white, the body a dark copper-beige, with plentiful, tiny bubbles.
Sweet in the nose, with light bubble gum and vanilla bracing the light caramel and honey notes. Dry esters are strong, but inviting, thanks to the balance they bring against the sweet malts. The usual peppery phenols are present, though this one has far, far less of the black pepper dryness that 15 had. Light cherry notes emerge, as well as some cinnamon-like phenols. Ends with the house yeast character that is both nutty and lightly vegetal. Alcohol well-concealed, medium-high strength of aroma.
Sweet and chewy, with soft vanilla and an almost herbal/tea-like bitterness that is very subtle. Some slight touches of breadiness and toast give a little jolt of flavor and the beer ends surprisingly dry, quite spicy (phenols) and with a hint of alcohol warmth. Carbonation is not overdone, and seems to settle in to a nice groove very quickly. The tight bubbles help keep the sweetness at bay and it never becomes a problem. There must be a fair amount of some adjunct sugar, because there’s a definite sticky/chewiness to the finish, slightly tacky at times, but the body never seems hugely malty. Good stuff, no real stand-out characters, but a very enjoyable and authentic Belgian ale.

Golden orange with an off white head. Some piney notes in the nose. Typical Unibroue yeast character. Thin with lots of bubbles. Better than most Unibroue offerings.

Bottle. Signature Unibrou yeast aroma with lots of apple, grapefruit, and some other fruit notes. Nice red cloudy beer with a frothy head. Nice spice. Well balanced yeast flavor, sour with lots of fruit. Nice smooth palate.

Well done belgian, but pretty typical. SPiced, yest nose. Frothy head resting upon a bright yellow body. Banana, clove, yeast taste. Spiced finish. Enjoyable.