Unibroue Édition 2004

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

Light amber/orange color with a big beige head. Aroma is very spicy with the usual Unibroue yeast. Spice flavor. Lots of alcohol warmth.

Medium orange gold color. Medium sized white foamy head. Aroma is yeasty and herbal. A medium to full bodied Belgian Strong Ale. Malts are fruity and sweet. Bright yeasts. Lively carbonation. Taste is very similar to 10 and 11, which is, in NO way, a bad thing at all. Fruity and yeasty. Malty and sweet. Mouthfeel is full and round. Finish is clean and smooth. Aftertaste is slightly bitter.

Big whiff of yeast, soft fruit and spices impart a great olfactory sensation right from the start. Huge, fluffy head sits atop the unfiltered bronze hue. The full-bodied flavor has a slightly sweet, fruity taste up front with spicier notes lingering under the tongue and in the back of the mouth. Finishes with a little bit of an alcohol burn, but nothing to diminish the overall enjoyment.

Re-rate: aged 2 years. a few bubbles but no real head. strong aroma of prunes and dates. tastes strongly of the same. consumed on new years eve to ring in 2007. what a treat. ORIGINAL RATING: large frothy, off-white head. hazy murky brownish/copper body, lightly cloudy. nutty/molasses/caramel herbal/floral aroma. Long flavour duration.

Slightly hazy copper body and a voluminous beige head. Aroma very spicy, with hops, coriander, alcohol, and fruit. Flavor is intense and alcoholic, but a tad overcarbonated. Seems between a dubbel and tripel flavorwise, with the alcohol zing of a quad. Very nice.

Sampled July 2004
Wow, as soon as I start to pour this beer I smell an intense, aromatic mix of spices. The beer is a clear copper-orange color. It is well carbonated, which supports a light tan head. The predominant aroma is of cardamom, but I also get notes of ginger and alcohol up front. When I dig a bit deeper I get an herbal note in the nose, as well as a bit of acetone. The taste is lightly sweet up front and not nearly as spicy as I was expecting from the nose. The cardamom does dominate the flavor though, it imparts notes of ginger, acetone, and allspice. There is a certain medium bodied fullness to this beer, which helps to fill out the palate a bit. There is also quite a nice bit of fruitiness underneath the spicing. I get notes of pear, raisin, and grape.

Because of the spice levels, this beer should mellow and improve for at least a couple of years. I must admit, despite this beer’s leaning towards one-dimensionality, that I am enjoying this beer greatly right now. This beer is walking a very thin line, any more cardamom and it would have been overwhelming, luckily the cardamom addition was maxed out perfectly.

The beer after its emigration from the 750ml brown bottle takes up a short lived stay in my Belgian triple glass, the color a well hazed orange, the head Brobdingnagian in size, the color a beauteous light tan and the texture creamy, as it fades the lace forms a thick and glutinous curtain to drape the glass. Nose is that of ripe pineapple, sweet malt, earthy with hints of fusel alcohol, a treat for the senses. Start is ambrosial, rich in malt with the top middling in its feel to the palate, ferine in its acidity, the hops forceful and pleasing to the palate, quite dry and long lasting aftertaste a nice bit of tummy warming from the 10.5 percent ABV, another winner in my books from one of the world’s best breweries.

Clear copper with large off-white head. Cotton candy nose with apple and cinnamon, some funky yeast. Sweet flavor, with apple, cinnamon, cloves, black pepper. Overcarbonated. Re-rate: 1/2/07. This one’s a lot stiller after a couple years. Still a ton of cinnamon in the nose and on the tongue, but it seems a bit more balanced now by a strong sweet honey taste, giving me the not unpleasant sensation that I’m tucking into a nice bowl of oatmeal with cinnamon, honey, and apples.