Unibroue Éphémère Apple

Brewed by Unibroue (Sapporo)
Style: Fruit Beer
Chambly, Canada

tasting at GDBTF on 10/18/08. golden in color. tart apples in the aroma... but not overpowering... just right. very soft over the palate... spicy on the tip. very drinkable and refreshing. enjoyed this one more than I thought I would.

I love beer. That is no secret, so whenever I hear that someone doesn’t like beer I always cringe. not so much out of elitism or snobbery or scorn, but because beer is such a vast arena of brew, that to say one doesn’t like beer based on just a few usually ordinary styles is too carte blanche for me.
Unibroue Ephemere is a great beer to break that tunnel beer vision for the nonbelievers. She pours a clear golden yellow into my Unibroue tulip glass. As the dregs and sediment flows into my glass, her body becomes more of a hazy gold. Dregs or sediment in a bottle conditioned beer as all Unibroue beers are is not uncommon at all and very delicious. It is flavor condensed and adds further dimensions to the already amazingly delicious palate. Immediately ripe aromas of freshly cut granny smith apples burst from the top of my glass and tease my nose. I am transported to the middle of a green apple orchard, fresh pickings in my hand as I sneakily take a bit of the bounteous treasure surrounding me. But, this is not a cider. Ephemere is in fact a Belgian style blonde ale which is fermented with granny smith apples. Carrying the apples forward is the enjoyable effervescent mouthfeel and further hints of orange and tangerine mingling with the apples. A bit of a chewy palate, the yeast and lees in the dregs softens the mouthfeel and adds bread and wheat to the profile.
A very clean start, middle, and finish, Ephemere lingers long enough to leave a sweet apply kiss on your tastebuds, but doesn’t linger too long so as to bitter or sour the aftertaste. Reminiscent of a cider, Ephemere is still 100% Belgian inspired brew, balanced subtly with soft lees, lightly tart yeast, and a chewy mouthfeel. A good beer to crack the ice of beer naysayers, but she is also enjoyable for any beer aficionado with an open mind and open palate.

On tap at Brixx. A good, crisp, refreshing beverage to accompany my roast beef sandwich. It was very cloudy with an unattractive yellow-tan-beige color but offered an apply aroma with solid yeasty presence. All in all, it was pretty good. My wife (a well established beer non-lover) liked the aroma and said she might be able to drink a pint.

Aroma: Green apples and gumball. Enticing. Appearance: Vigorously effervescent hazy champagne-colored brew, voluminous white head, chunky white sediment. Flavor: Green apples at the front, followed by citrus, coriander, and gumballs. My first few sips finished unpleasantly chalky, but the increasing yeast content towards the bottom of the glass rounded the finish out well. Mouthfeel: Highly carbonated and dry, continuously puckering.

Bottle at home. Cloudy orange/yellow - white head. High sweetness, sugar, sticky, apples, dusty, Apple Hubba Bubba, klam, yeasty, light barnyard.

Pours a very attractive glowing light orange with bright white head. Smell is wheaty, spiced yeast, faint apple juice, and is bright and clean. Taste is wheaty, and mild with some light spice and dry apple flavor. Good mouthfeel with crisp carbonation. Refreshingly wheat and a unique twist on a mainly wheat beer, really.

(Bottle 34,1 cl) Hazy golden with a white head. Lightly sweet and artificial apple aroma. Medium body, lightly sweet, artificial apple flavour. No bitterness. Gee, quite a mystery how this artificial pop got this high an average. 120908

This beer had a STRONG smell to it and a it poured well with a good look. The apple taste was WAYYY too strong for me and I was overpowered by it. Just too much for me.