Unibroue 16

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

Date: 05/05/2007
Mode: Bottle
Source: Tasting, Yankee Go Home!

opaque dark amber, wispy off white head, streaks of lace, sweet earthy fruity aroma, lots of sweet fruity flavor, well balanced with earthy hops, a touch of tartness,

Aroma: 6/10; Appearance: 6/10; Flavor: 7/10; Palate: 6/10; Overall: 13/20
Rating: 3.2/5.0
Drinkability: 7/10
Score: **+/4

Aroma of plums, malt and yeast, hazy ruby, pours a tiny tan head. Taste of sweet, juicy malts, red plums, anjou pears. Medium bodied, sweet, bitter and a fine tongue tingle. Terrific! As usual for these folks.

750 ml bottle from Holiday Wine Cellar: Cloudy peach-amber color with a medium frothy off-white head. Aroma is peppery belgian yeast/spice. Flavor starts sweet over ripe tropical fruit followed by a spicy citrus bitterness and a lingingering dry orangy finish. Full body is rich with lively carbonation.

750, corked and caged. Pours deep cloudy to murky brownish dark amber. Plenty of fizzy white bubbles up top; not too much lace though. Sharp sugary nose of candied oranges and cotton candy. Pleasant, but it starts me thinking right off the bat that this might benefit from some time to itself in a cool dark place, just to get itself together. Fizzy, medium-bodied attack, with plenty of that spicy orange pith happening right from the drop. Nice clean sugar and spice mid-palate, with the faintest hints of resin there at the end. Well-made, but definitely not the best beer they’ve done.

Very hazy orange body topped by a large and creamy in the middle, fizzy at the edges light manila head. The aroma is a bit sweet, dates and some hints of other dark fruits as well as a floral component. The flavor is pretty nice, a good bit of sweetness with lots of caramel, dark fruit flavors. I am really digging this flavor profile. I think that this is one of the better efforts in this series. Not that it is radically different then the others, but it comes together well.

750 ml bottle: A wonderful fruity aroma, peach, sour apple, yeast, and wheat dominate the aroma. Pours a cloudy copper with a billowing white head that lingers. Taste is very nicely spiced, just exploding into the fruitiness and melding into a sweet and sour like aftertaste that is really pleasing to the palate. The spices are most prominent at first. With cinnamon, clove, and maybe some coriander mixed in there as well. The fruitiness subtly comes forward with ripe peaches and sour apples the most predominant flavors, I can’t even tell this is 10% no alcohol sting whatsoever. Overall, Damn good Belgian style ale.

75 cL bottle. Opened with a pop and vapor. Great smells just from that. Pours with 4 fingers of head. Hazy coppery gold color. Dark yeasty aroma. There seem to be dark fruits, arguably coriander. Maybe something like a spiced peach, which suggests clove. Also some brown sugar. The head just won’t go away, and it does not lace so much as just coat. Thin to medium body. Creamy carbonation. The flavor has just about everything. Brown sugar; caramel; light stone fruit; mixed spice. There is a phenolic touch at the finish. The finish is not dry, but it is not sicky sweet either. Heat is now noticeable, and there is some bitter. Also some wood I think. One of the more complex products I have had recently.

Pours copper/gold witha big billowing head and nice lacing on the glass. Wheat, yeast and apple charactereistics define the smell, along with roasted cherry and dried fruit malts. A nice yeasty brew with a fruity kick and subtle spice and roasted qulaities. This brew hides the alcohol very well and provides a great drinkability. Very nice brew.