Unibroue Édition 2004

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

Yellow/amber body with a very large, very bubbly offwhite head. Aroma: sweet, slightly spicy(including pepper), a touch of alcohol and a little yeasty. Strong fruity(plum and initially cherry) flavor with a substantial alcoholic bite and a bit of pepper accent and a very faint yeastiness.

Pours an attractive amber golden color, relatively free of haze. On the first pour, the head is initially about two inches of large bubbles, but as is usually the case with large-bubbled heads it is quickly diminishing. The head on the second was actually much better--thick and creamy, small bubbles, long lasting, leaving behind a smooth sheet of lace. I was somewhat disappointed with the aroma on this. It’s more bready than anything rather than that big fruitcake thing in something like Maudite. The flavor, however, more than makes up what 2004 lacks in the nose. Vibrantly spicy and fruity with a hint of orange citrus and a twinge of alcohol to balance things out. In my opinion, a bit of alcohol flavor is not necessarily a bad thing provided it’s used as a counterpoint to other flavors as it is here. The mouthfeel is damn near perfect and quickly becoming what I appreciate most about Unibroue’s best beers--slightly syrupy and sticky, which I rather enjoy in big beers, with the most gentle wonderful cushion of carbonation you can imaging adding a great deal to the perceived thickness of the brew. I haven’t been paying the strictest attention to changes in Unibroue since they were purchased by Sleeman but as long as they keep putting out stuff like this I’m only going to complain about the loss of their small, independent craftbrewer status (I’m against the idea of large corporations buying out the competition in principle) than the loss of good brews.

Beer pours cloudy amber with a lovely retained, cream off white head. Aroma here really through me for a loop. Very perfumey with some fruit. Flavor is sweet with some nice yeastiness, but a bit over the top on the fruit for my taste. Maybe I should age some a bit.

Had a Unibroue tasting this weekend. Boy they make some good stuff. This ale was a hit. Wonderfully complex. Hides the alcohol very well. Lovely rolling pour, fluffy head, lingering for the entire glass. Interesting nose of spice. Looks a lot like Maudite (very pretty. Cardamom, stands out, some great apricot, dried fruit naturally sweet. She warmed up and the pepper really came out. Beautiful beer. Grab it if you can!

Aroma is spicy, that Unibroue yeast. A cider-ish note similar to Quelque chose. Spicier than usual, and also some fruits. Pours an amber brown, slightly cloudy. Tingly alcoholic mouthfeel. Flavours are a combination of fruits, some chocolate there, a colgate-like mint flavour, spices(peppery). Alcohol is well hidden.

Medium sized white head, fair retention, slight lacing. Hazy orange/copper color. Nose of malt, cough syrup and a little vics vaporub, interesting? Medium body, tingly carbonation. Minty, cinnamony flavors dominate with a hint of fruityness, yeast and cloves in the background. Mild dark fruit flavors come out as it warms, some plum and raisin notes. 10.5% alc?! You wouldnt know it. Medium dry finish. Hmmmmm.

750 ml. big ’ole brown Belgian bottle. Corked and caged. 2004 vintage date on the front label in gold lettering. I bought two of these at Rick’s Gourmet in Alexandria, Va. for $6.99 each. I’ll definitely be aging the other one, because this beer is far from being done. Poured out a cherry-mahogany color, with a fast fading off white colored head. Cloudy as can be. The first aroma I noticed is of ginger. Hawaiian ginger to be specific. It almost overpowers any other aromas, including the malts. The malts are subdued so much that the spices practically dominate the aroma profile of this beer. No hop aromas at all. Tastes are of spices. Thai spices. Lots of spices, and not much else. Slight yeasty bite to it, but not much else. Medium mouthfeel, slightly cloying. Brown sugar dominates the mouthfeel. Finishes sweet, spicy, and somewhat cloying. Maybe this beer will age out well. Let’s hope so, because it’s not that great right now. I much prefer Unibroue’s other, lighter beers.

2004 bottle (big surprise there), thanks to Jeff (radiomgb).
Pours a lightly coppery yellow-gold. Some lightly fiery oranges and lighter yellows in there. Big off white head as usual. Aroma is extremely peppery, tons of yeast, some coriander or something like that (orange rind, lemon or something quite astringent). As bottle breathes, aroma gets more alcoholic and perfumy, with some bitter hop notes and more citrus.
Flavor is peppery to the max, lots of sweet candi and sugary malt. Finishes with a dry, chewy yeast flavor, like a wit only more peppery. Alcohol is apparent throughout but not dominant. Seems oddly similar to the Stone 04, but that’s just my lack of sampling of this style. No lime leaf, but lots of light sugar flavors, pepper and yeast. I can’t quite get around the excessive spiciness, and the body is a bit too loose on the finish, but the malt, yeast and aroma are incredible. Hopefully some of the spice dies off in the aging.