Unibroue 16

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

Sampled at Jungle Jim’s Unibroue beer tasting. We were very surprised and pleased when they brought this beer out. The sampling schedule only included the brewery’s basic line of ale’s, so this was completely unexpected, but well recieved. Host Rick Swarez from the brewery informed us that the beer is made to a secret recipe, but does include Westmalle yeast and Munich malt. Pretty awesome. The pour produced a copper, orange brew with a creamy beige head. The aromas were absolutely amazing: Strong spices, bourbon, obvious yeast and malt dosage- cardamom, pepper and a strong hint of cloves. All of this carried over into the very interesting taste which included notes of vanilla, cinammon, and nutty liqueur. (hazelnut/macadamia- frangelico) Also present was some dark rum and a sweet, sticky molasses texture on the tongue. Butterscotch and a chewy bittersweetness carry hints of a wee heavy scotch ale into play. This brew takes the best attributes of every style, and combines them into one, significant, indivualistic beer. Sorry for such a long rating, but there was just so much to say about this.

Massive 750 mL bottle poured into tumbler- poured slightly turbid brownish amber, light-medium carbonation, very thin bubbly white head with some lacing. Aroma of yeast, sucrose, plums, coriander, bananas, and chopped figs. Hits the mouth with a medium body, the fruit notes come through cleanly, a small amount of the spice in the middle, finish is crisp and a good warming effect. Pretty good stuff maynard, and the 17 is next!

Bottle, Kegs & Barrels, McKinney, TX. Pours a deep cloudy amber with thick off-white head with great retention. Aroma was loaded with fruity notes. Flavor was terriffic, lots of maltiness and strong yeasty fruity notes with an excellent hoppiness for flavor and balancing bitter for the sweetness this beer provides, with a nice alcohol spice just to compliment it. Palate was full bodied, soft and smooth with medium carbonation. GREAT BEER!

Pours amber with some white head...some sugary notes and some bitterness with a spiced (peppery) flavor to it...overall very dissapionting to me, maybe would have been better if the sweetness had been a bit more pronounced...would not buy this again

Bottle stored since sept 2007. Pours a hazy amber colour with a big off-white head. Small yeast sediments floating around in the glass. Aroma is fruity. Orange, bitter orange, some yeast and some spicy herbs. Flavour is sweet and fruity with notes of orange caramel, powdered sugar, bitter orange, the swedish candy "kola-remmar" and a hint maturity which made me think of plums marinaded in liquor. A hint of peppery alcohol. The finish is sweet orange, caramel and a hint of bitterness. Good one - I believe that it will will improve even more with a few years in the cellar.

Bottle. Pours a slightly hazy amber color with a small off-white head. Has a yeasty malty dark fruit aroma. Sweet malty and slightly yeasty dark fruit and caramel flavor. Sweetish yeasty and slightly warming malty finish.

Impressive optics on the pour with amazingly thick fizzy head. Settles quickly to leave a high density, almost gooey residual. Sweet malty nose with burnt bourdon hints. Quite elegant and you need to think about it. Relatively clean in the taste department as the malts show lots of balance and a little pong. More savoury than sweet with a hint of alcohol led spice and aniseed on the finish. Not top flight Unibroue but as always very reliable.

750ml bottle-A cloudy dark orange body with a nice two finger white head and active carbonation. Aroma of belgian yeast, sweetness, fruity, coriander, and some banana. Taste begins with the yeast and sweetness and it lasts throughout the mouthful. Dry on the back end with slight alcohol but otherwise hidden very well. Another great Belgian brew from Unibroue.