Unibroue Édition 2004

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

Bottle. Lots of coriander and alcohol in aroma. Golden brown colour. Sure, it has some of the typical unibroue flavour, but there is so much more here - a great fruity taste with a good amount of carbonation that adds a great crisp characteristic. The alcohol is noticeable too, but 10.5%. Tangy as well. A very very good beer.

Presentation was a 341ml bottle tarted up with foil and gold labeling ....pour revalued a hazy honey-amber liquid with a rocky off white cap that left as fast as a Labatt corn brew.....lottsa fizz...aroma is the standard Unibroue sweet must but the alcohol is detectable in this one.....starts mild and malt pronounced...honey, fruit and spice notes from sweet malts yeasts and alcohol....finish is fairly wet and sweet with some alcohol creating a peppering to the tongue and a warming. My impression is that this has the makings of a very smooth Belgian high-test but it will take a year or two of cellaring to take some of the edges off this beer....it’s good and smooth and hides the acher-hol well....I have saved one I’ll save for review in 2 years.

Darkish tarnished color. Lots of swirling aromas. Very chewy texture. Alcohol sort of noticble. There was a lot of spice, and some darker fruit flavors, but I felt that there was just too much competition going on. At times it felt as if the brew was just too heavy like a million voices yelling at once.

This was to be my 80th beer in August ’04: to tie my record and to weep for the girlfriend who dumped me. Imagine my delight when the Unibroue exploded all over my carpeted floor. *grumble* Nice dark brown and amber coloring with an uber-head. Aroma was a very appealing mixture of spices (cinnamon, nutmeg) and yeast. The taste was not bad, but didn’t quite live up to the aroma before it. More spice and some breadiness with a bit of malt. It was certainly good and worth a try, but not world class. Oh, and when I poured my second glass it also overflowed onto the carpet I had just cleaned 30 minutes earlier. Super.

Pours hazy orangish-brown with a large head. Spicy, yeasty, meaty aroma. Peppery flavor with some alcohol showing through. Turns sweeter toward the middle. Ends on a slight bitter note and leaves a nice spicy aftertaste.
RERATE 4/18/6: This has aged very well. The spice and alcohol have calmed down and the beer as a whole is a lot more laid-back, but no less tasty. For a two year old sample, I give it a four out of five.
RERATE 12/17/7. Ah, wonderful. The spice and alcohol is even calmer, subtler, and there’s a flavor reminiscent of a 2004 Etienne Dupont Cider I had recently. Cidery, slightly tart and funky.

Orange, leaning to yellow in color. Wispy head. The nose was Owen’s Breakfast Sausage- wierd. Spice- coriander, black pepper?. Nice sweetness. Good fizziness.

Common golden color, thin bubbles, little head. Caramel, sausage--I’m not completely convinced. Citric, spicy (coriander), pepper. Lively tangy, frothy palate but it goes a bit flat. Good solid beer in the style. Thanks Kevin42 for sharing!

Very clean belgian tripel aroma (very similar to delerium tremens), including notes of biscuit and apricot. Golden amber color with thick beige head. Flavors not quite balanced yet and could use a year plus to balance out. Flavors include malt honey cloves, the usual suspects. Have four bottles left, will not try another until 2006