Unibroue 10

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

Huge thanks to my Secret Santa, I never thought I was going to have the chance to try this. This beer is much like a tripel in style. Medium orange golden color, just the faintest hint of carbonation remaining. Yeast, alcohol laden aroma of orange marmalade. Flavor matches the aroma, quite warming and tasty. The Unibroue yeast really shines through here. Nice, and glad to be able to try this!

This brew says it was bottled on 12/01, this thing has aged amazingly well over the last 3 years. Pours a light cloudy orange with a fizzy white head that could last forever. Little particles swim in a vortex in their alcoholic little world. Aroma is spicy, yeasty, with a nice sweet orange peel nose and light floral hopping. Taste starts with a nice maltiness, then a sweet citrus taste jumps out with a bit of yeast and pepper at its side. This brew finishes with just a light hopping that balances this brew out very well. A nice carbonation, which was not lost in the least over the aging years, and a nice crispness, make this brew excellent. There is also a trailing sweet orange candy aftertaste, kinda like a jollyrancher, but nice a subtle. I wish I had a few more of these to age a bit longer.

wonderful pour, golden slightly cloudy with a nice even head and watery lace. slightly fruity aroma but very clear. good bold flavor with a perfect hops finish.

Popped the first one from a case of cellar kept bottles and it was flat...poured flat, tasted alright...just flat...made me very angry and nervous...popped the second bottle and was relieved to hear that beautiful popping sound...poured yellow like a cider with medium white head...smelled melons, pear, apple, and alcohol...almost off putting in its sweetness...mild taste...a little on the sweet side, but all fruits in the mouth...apples and pears, but not as over the top as the smell...yeasty, peppery, then sweet in the finish...3 years has done this beer well!!!!


Update: still and lifeless, light notes of butterscotch...sugary sweet and musty...7 years has not done well...

Sampled October 2004
This one pours a brilliant full gold color. It is well carbonated which generates a frothy light beige head that is a bit too large bubbled to hang around for much more than a few minutes. The aroma is spritzy and dry with notes of lemon, musty wood, grass, and green herbs. The taste is sharp and dry up front and then moves to an apple-like fruitiness and a bit of soft sweetness that then finishes with a bit of pie-spice-like astringency. Though the finish is quite smooth and free of any really astringent notes.

This beer seems to have picked up quite a bit of apple notes in the time it has sat at rest in my closet. I must admit that I find this a lot more interesting than when this was fresh. Fresh it just did not seem to have as much character as I would have liked. I think that a bit of oxidation has picked up and accentuated the fruity aspects of this beer, and the only other place that the oxidation might be noticed is in the wiff of musty wood that is in the aroma.

Even after 5 minutes it is still sending a mad stream of bubbles up through the middle of my Duvel glass. This is generating a wispy head that spreads out from the center of, and does not quite reach the edges of, my glass. It is quite visually appealing and on my second glass creates a slow moving, merry vortex of dancing yeasty sediment that gets evenly distributed throughout my tulip-glass.

As this beer warms up a bit, and my palate becomes adjusted to it, I begin to notice notes of dry dust (cobwebs?), menthol (which, though still pleasant, is particularly noticeable in the finish and is almost reminiscent of mint toothpaste), a hint of grains of paradise (which is somewhat like a dusty pepper taste), and some notes of fresh cherries. The sweetness seems to pick up a bit as the carbonation dies out, though the carbonation is still quite noticeable at the end of this 750ml bottle.

I quite enjoyed this beer, and if you have one stored in your closet I highly recommend another go at this beer, especially if you have a couple or so, though alas this was my last.

Honey. Stunningly hoppy aroma, quite yeasty as well with sugar coated light fruits (tangerine and orange) and a nice sweet malt presence as well. Notes of green melon, coriander, mango, pear and apple along with a slight tartness and a well balanced flavor. This was a well aged bottle, obviously, and it was worth the wait. Well hidden alcohol. Phenomenal, to say the least.

The murky depths of this yeasty orange and malty drink don’t even begin to hint at the smoky notes and the citrus taste lying beneath. It is a very unibroue drink... which means you are getting a very refreshing and tasty brew. Not quite Trois Pistoles, but certainly up there with the greats.

Misty light yellow gold with some sedimenty particles. Nice carbonation level that keeps a 1cm head going in the chimay glass. The nose has good amount of belgian yeast, balanced citrus spice: lemon, also wheat and coriander and candi sugar. The flavor has a nice oak note with a bunch of alcohol bite and strong hop bite for the style. Uniquely balanced BSA with assertive smooth flavors. Very tasty but alas I had higher hopes for this one.