Unibroue Éphémère (unflavoured)

bouteille brune 341 ml, la première d’une grande série, probablement la moins bonne aussi, 5 sur 10 à l’époque.

2003 bottle from Radiomgb, drunk on 9/22/07, thanks Jeff!
Needless to say, this one was well passed its prime, despite cellaring it carefully. Bubbles arise on the surface, quickly fizzling away to nothing. The liquid is a lucid bronze-orange, with only sparse carbonation noteable. Chalk that up to age, but at the same time, I dont think this would have displayed particularly strong appearance characteristics even when fresh, as there is no lacing and the carbonation is seemingly forced.
Bland, dry wheat in the nose is immediately apparent, as well as a rather underdeveloped, uninspiring yeast. I know that "Saison" is just the placeholder here, and this wasn’t intended as a faithful recreation of that style, but the yeast is just plain boring. Light pepper-like phenols are quickly washed away by the wheat and light honey and dough sweetness, while some vanillin and waxiness builds up on the finish. A touch of citrus character, mainly lemon, adds a crisp element for a fleeting moment and is gone. Not really over/underattenuated though, from the nose.
Wheat, vanillin, dough and more light citric acid notes clash, while the carbonation is very fizzy on the palate, though it eventually disappears. Not unpleasant, but simple in the extreme, without any interesting yeast character that you would expect from either a saison, or Unibroue yeast. I’ll certainly cut it some slack for its age, but I’ve had marvelous Unibroues far older than this and I really get the feeling from drinking this that it wasn’t particularly interesting when fresh. No alcohol or flaws . Moderately-highly, to highly oxidized (which is further strange seeing as it is only a 4 year-old Belgian ale comprised of pale malts)

on tap at mad mex Pretty bland flavor and aroma with a pretty weak palate also. Not enough carbonation. Pretty weak one from unibroue.

Pours copper kettle with light cloudiness. Citrus aroma, many fruit sweet and yeast. Good mouth feel nice job.

Found this one bottled in Sycamore, Illinois. Copper pour, slightly cloudy with a medium white head. Citrusy in the nose, with roses and apple cider. Sweet. I don’t know if I had ever tried one of these styles but this was a nice brew.