Trader Joes Vintage Ale 2005

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

Aroma is nice, malty, sweet red fruit, sugar sweetness and oxidation. Taste is sweet syrupy sugarness with some belgian fruit esters. Like syrup-covered fruit. Blends well. Finishes with a slight sourness, but overall very nice taste, but finishes odd., Solid. ---rating as of 2008

Nice Belgian strong. Thanks Nick. Aroma was weak but could pick up some grassiness and light malt. Pour was a medium brown with a thin white ring for a head. Taste was strong iced tea mixed with caramel malt. Dark fruits seem present but can’t get past the iced tea taste. This beer does not taste like 9% and it extremely (and dangerously) drinkable.

Had the pleasure of sampling this at the 1/27/2008 Pittsburgh ratebeer.com gathering upstairs, Sharp Edge Creekhouse. It will be a long time, if ever, I see a spread of bottles like I did there - ever again. I am not good enough for the beers that were that we sampled! For example, how about this beer, courtesy of NIck! A trader Joe’s 2005 retired! COOL! Barely any aroma, but what it present is mildly roasty to the nose. Looks lighter than regular iced tea. Good carbonation, surprisingly good carbonation. Mild yet not too much of the character that would put it over the top. Very good but could not stand up to a Leute Bokbier. Probably more on par with Unibroue Maudite !

2005 batch, 750 ml brown, Belgian bottle. Corked and caged. Aged in my cellar since it’s release. Tasted in a 3 year vertical with the 2006 and the 2007 batch. This one poured out a deep dark chocolate brown. Much different in color & appearance than either the 2006 or the 2007 batch. A thick mocha colored head sits atop this beer. Aromas are more of roasted malts, with spicy dark dried fruits mixed in. Smells really good, compared to each of the other 2 year’s vintages. Massive flavors in this one. Some clove, licorice, damp, dank basement, sweet toffee, some pipe tobacco, and strangely enough, some cherry pie flavors. Tart cherries, not the sweet ones. Thick & chewy at this point means more flavor for me. This one stands heads & shoulders above the other 2 vintages in this vertical tasting. it certainly has aged well, no doubt about it.

Thanks Drewbeerme for bringing this over. Dark brown with off white head. Aroma is a lot of dark fruits, alc, and spice. Nice dark fruits, sweet caramel malt, alc is very well hidden. Medium to full body. Very nice.

750ml. pours dark brown with off white head. nose of dark fruits. flavor dark fruits, nuts, and caramel. watery body. no alcohol noticed. some aged malts. holding up well. good stuff.3.5

750ml, aged 3 years, time has done this beer well, nothing earth shattering but nice dark fruit character, carbonation is too fizzy though. 3.6.

Deep & dark pour, with lovely milk chocolate head. Downhill from there. Toffee aroma. Sweet prune flavored, with some light wood notes, but mainly quite cloying, like licking a See’s candy caramel lolly pop. Belgian yeasts add a bit of depth, but the lack of any hops flavor whatsoever (per style) makes this brew feel more like a cheap port than anything else. Could not drink more than a few ounces of the stuff.

(Bottle) Acquired from BlankBoy. Lasting almond-coloured foamy head with a deep brown-red body. No sediment. Nose is boozy: fig, caramel and roasted malt and cardamom spice. Flavour is meaty, polished elixir of fresh fig, crystallized brown sugar and bourbon that’s been cherry dipped in syrup. The 3.5 years added to this beer hasn’t hurt this brew one bit. I wish I had more of this...