Unibroue 15

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

Serve in Trappist glass, Tulip, Tumbler

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Huge beer with tons of plums, chocolate, caramel, nuts, and earthy leathery notes. medium/high sweetness with a dry finish that is very boozy. Good but a bit harsh.

Maybe one of my oldest beers, aroma is fresh, bready and belgian. Boozy and rich. Alcohol burns the finish

Typical of a few recent reviews. Maybe not well stored. Big bubbles and very loose foam. Bready malt with notes of vanilla and brandy spice. Palate is redolent of orange marmalade and candied citrus rind. Oxidative flavors begin to creep into the finish. Tripels can age, maybe not this long, and certainly at better temperatures.

I love Unibroue and could barely wait to open this one any longer. Nose is big yeast and sweet citrus. Bread and light spice notes. Pour is hazy yellow/orange with a white head. Taste is sweet citrus, spicy yeast, and honey like flavors. Very nice. It reminded me much of their La Fin du Monde.

Bottle
Appearance - Hazy orange, plush white head
Aroma - Yeast, lemon, vanilla
Taste - Caramel, oranges, yeast

For a bottle this old, it tasted very fresh. Lots of bready notes and fresh citrus come through on the palate very nicely. Of course - thank you OmegaX for the share.

Bottle from Systembolaget, Sweden. Bottle tried at 2012-06-27. Light cherry and fruity arom. Cherry taste and no sweetness. Fine summer beer.

750ml bottle, opened up at a tasting a while ago and finally entering my notes. Have had this one a couple of times over the years but I think its beginning to finally fall off but that is of course a matter of opinion. Clear pale yellow with a frothy white head. Lots of sweet malt, sugar, unibroue yeast, alcohol, spice and fruit. Moderate carbonation and body, bit sweet, becomes dry, decent finish with malt, fruit, alcohol and spice and an overall mustiness.

Nicely cellared for six years, thanks Vyvvy! Large corked bottle into snifter. It poured a cloudy orangish-amber color with huge, sudsy, long-lasting off-white foam with tiny bubbles from continuous bottle fermentation, sheets of Belgian lace. Aromas of caramelized malt sugar, rising dough and freshly-baked whole-grain bread, toffee, lots of fruity yeast esters and spicy phenols: black pepper, clove, nutmeg, bubble gum, compost. Flavors of toffee, warm biscuits with butter and honey, crackers, citrus, apricots, herbal tea tannins, beneficial oxidation. It became slightly more sour, cidery, butterscotch-y, barnyard-y as it warmed. Overall impression was complex, sweet but not cloying, balanced hops bitterness and tangy flavor. Strong, warming alcohol but smooth and well-hidden. Medium body, effervescent carbonation, lingering multi-layered fruity/yeasty aftertaste which eventually finished dry. Delicious. Held up to aging extremely well.

750 ml bottle into signature tulip glass, bottle date of 1/6/2006. Pours a very hazy and cloudy golden orange color with a fairly dense 1-2 finger off white head with decent retention that reduces to a thin cap of lace that lingers. Some slight bits of lace on the glass. Aromas of big banana, orange, honey, grape, caramel, molasses, candi sugar, clove, and yeast spices. Some nice and well balanced aromas with good complexity. Taste of big banana, orange peel, grape, honey, pepper, toffee, butterscotch, clove, molasses, apple, candi sugar, and yeast spices. Lingering notes of caramel, citrus, toffee, butterscotch, clove, molasses, and yeast spices on the finish for a good bit. Medium carbonation and body; with a fairly creamy and slick mouthfeel. Very smooth to drink for 10%, but is still a bit of a sipper. Alcohol is extremely well hidden, with hardly any warming noticed at all after the finish. Overall this is a highly excellent Belgian strong pale. Tons of great balanced flavors with good complexity; and very smooth to drink for the gravity. Definitely highly enjoyed this one. This has held up very nicely over 6 years.

Thanks to pushkinwow for popping this at the Ottawa tasting. Pours a clear golden with a frothy white top. Aroma is mostly malt, fruit, and yeast. Taste has a small astringency, yeasty and still good malt. Alcohol has smoothed out and this is a very nice beer.