Trader Joes Vintage Ale 2005

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

750 ml bottle. Dark brown with a large fizzy head that faded before was finished. Aromas of dark fruit and molassas. Brown sugar and some roasted something. Very fizzy and carbonated. Proably could use some aging. Flavors were similar to the aromas. Slight dustyness in the finish. Very tasty.

Very dark blackish-brown pour with a big-bubbled, quickly diminishing head. Prune, raisin, and dark chocolate dominate the nose, almost like a Christmas raisin bread. A touch of cinnimon would be perfect (if it were there). Flavors are sweet, chocolatey dried fruits - pleasant, but the finish is a little rough, as the alcohol has a somewhat edgy way of coming through.

Pour is opaque blackish brown with a thin fast fading big bubbled brown head...smell is very fruity initially with prunes, cherries, raisins, and plums...notes of cocoa...mouthfeel is thin and somewhat watery...some yeasty and nutty notes, but overall quite sweet and fruity with lots of dark fruits...somewhat sour quick finish...good none the less...

Dark, opaque purple brown with a fluffy, brown, quickly diminishing fizzy head. Complex, malty and yeasty nose chuck-full of fruit and fruity esters. Plum, mango, cherry, cocoa, toasted grains, ripe apples, creamy caramel, brandy, honey, tropical fruit esters, floral perfume, fresh dough and a bit of anise seed. The body is relatively full, but the carbonation is completely lost, leaving a still beer. The flavors are sweet and malty with some wafts of perfume, alcohol and yeasty esters from time to time. The malt is mostly fruity, but with a touch of toasted grain character as well. The finish is smooth and easy, considering the high ABV. The lack of carbonation really took a lot from this beer. All told, this isn’t bad, but I expected more from Unibroue.

ReRate-i had to do some adjustments here. I got to sample a whole bottle completely sober and i found some flaws in this beer. The aroma is still very nice-all complents are there-same with the appearance. I had to mark down the flavor rating due to the one dimensonality of this beer. The body is also a little thin, but i had that marked on the first rating. bottle-pours deep brown with a small grey tinge to the head around the rim of the karmelot glass i used. aroma of big dark fruits, figs, dusty esters, candy sugar, plums, red grapes. flavors exhibit the plum character mostly with a touch of sugar. grape note long into the finish. fairly complex i must say. this beer was at the end of a major beer marathon, so i must go back and reviist this one.

This Belgian Ale pours a deep reddish brown color from a 750ml cork finished bottle. Once the frelling large beige white foamy head subsides it leave the glass with a nice even lacing. The aroma is mild, but caramel malts and fruit mix with some candi and brown sugar sweetness. A medium bodied Belgian Ale. Malts are full of dark fruit (plums, raisins and cherries) with a strong touch of caramel malts. Bright and very typical Unibroue yeast with a slightly spicy taste. Very typical Unibroue yeasts. Very lively carbonation. Very drinkable ale, hides the 9% alcohol till the very end. Nice beer. This one should have good aging potential, at least from a corkage perspective. It took me several minutes with the vice grips to get the cork off. Mouthfeel is full. Finish is clean and dry. Aftertaste is slightly sweet.

I drank this after two Rochefort 10s so it didn’t have much of a chance. Tasted bready and plummy. It seemed be kind of watery as well. But still pretty good.

(750ml bottle, 2005 vintage) Pours a deep mahogany body with a large long-lasting beige head. Aroma of dark fruits, yeast, malt, and florals. Flavor of malt, yeast, raisins, licorice, and spices.