 Perm (134), Tryon, North Carolina, USA
Apr 28, 2008
I’m on a huge Unibroue kick right now. It took me a while to be brave enough to try their offerings, for a few reasons:
1) It’s Canadian. How many fine Canadian craft brews do YOU know of? (Moosehead? What?)
2) It’s FRENCH Canadian – the intimidation factor is high. Sure, I’ve stumbled upon French bière de garde, but that ALSO had a huge intimidation factor.
3) All of their offerings are styled, “Ale on Lees,” which is intimidating until your wine friends tell you that just means "yeast is present in the bottle."
4) My first experience with them was largely forgettable. I had a Blanche de Chambly at a billiard bar in Martinsville, VA (Sandy Whitesides’ wedding eve) and just didn’t know what to do with it. I was expecting a Hoegaarden clone, I think, and it wasn’t that.
I rediscovered this brewery at the 2006 Durham Beer Festival, and gave La Fin du Monde a 2nd-place, and Blanche de Chambly a 3rd-place. Again, like the Flemish Red, these beers don’t do well at festivals because they’re so damn different from everything else. The way to sample beers like these is either a) try them first, or b) try them first right after lunch. Subsequent outings with La Fin du Monde have skyrocketed it in my book.
So, Don de Dieu. Remarkable. The closest thing to a Belgian Triple Ale that I’ve found that’s not actually a Belgian. The Quebeçois have managed somehow to retain a bit more old-worldness to their brews than have the USA craft-brewers. Don de Dieu has a slight roasted-nut quality blending in with that great fruit-malt-yeast quality that I love about farmhouse-style brews. This beer would be fantastic with anything grilled (especially game), even more fantastic with spicy Latin or Asian dishes, and remarkable with artisan cheese. It’s 9%, so watch yourself.
wcampbell (411), Lewisburg, Pennsylvania, USA
Aug 17, 2008 Huge head on pour, but lightly carbonated for the rest. Nice full mouthfeel. Lightly sweet fruitiness mixes well with a sour yeast flavor. Spices add even more complexity to the flavor. Perfectly balanced. Highly drinkable for a stronger beer.
otakuden (54), Vero Beach, Florida, USA
Aug 14, 2008 While they are quite often scoffed at, laughed at, poked fun at, and usually downright not taken seriously at all, there is one small Canadian brewery that rebukes the stereotype and consistently brews damn good beer.
Like all of Unibroue’s beers, Don de Dieu is bottle fermented, so don’t be surprised or frightened to find a nice layer of delicious blessed yeast and lees on the bottom.
She pours a slightly hazy golden yellow into my Unibroue glass. I chose to leave the remnants of the yeast and lees in the bottle, though on occasion I have been known to pour the full works into my glass. Both ways are exquisite and it usually boils down to a simple matter of personal preference. A huge fluffy white head rises to the lip of my glass, and then settles into a puffy ring around my glass. In the nose I detect notes of citrus, sweet peaches, sour notes of yeast, and warm spices that remind me of winter. A rather thick viscous body, Don de Dieu wastes no time coating my mouth and tongue, sour yeasts bite and tingle along the top of my tongue, while the warm alcohol mingles with the spices and sweet peaches. Not as much citrus in the palate as in the nose. Not a heavy beer, though there is definitely more chewy fullness to the body. As I delve further into her depths, more of a citrus hop bite appears amidst the overall succulent palate which balances the sweet peaches with the sour yeast beautifully, acting to take any overpowering edge off the other.
A solid performer all-around, Don de Dieu carries me off along her sturdy deck safely to my destination, sad but sweet, as my glass sits empty beside me.
kubilai (15), , Canada
Aug 14, 2008 Pours a gold-orange color with a quick gone white head. Pour aroma of spice and citrus. Light pears, spices and citrus fruits taste. Not bad.
WesKBob (145), Bethany, Oklahoma, USA
Aug 9, 2008 750 ml bottle. Pours a golden-orange color with a very quickly dissipating head. Aroma is sweet fruit and yeast. Flavor is fruity (peach, pear) with a bit of sour apple tartness. Mouthfeel is fizzy and dry. Respectable, but certainly nowhere near the best for this style.
jeffwilliams11 (251), hooterville, Michigan, USA
Aug 9, 2008 pours clear straw color with quick fading white head. aroma is yeasty and spicy, somewhat floral (not ’hoppy’ floral, actual flower floral). smooth and flavorful, quite mild for 9%. fizzy.
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