Unibroue 17

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

Great strength, sweet and spicy and complex. Amazing character and color - deep copper-brown with tan head. Love the alcohol kick at the end.

750ml bottle - part of a Unibroue tasting at a local store. Dark brown color. Typical Unibroue aroma. Rich, full mouthfeel. Needs some time in the bottle as it seems pretty tight.

0.750L bottle pours mildly hazy amber with big bubbles tan head. The aroma is complex with fruitiness like apricots, plums, apples, tart cherries and freshly unwrapped band-aid to go along with notes of assorted kitchen cabinet spices. Interesting. The taste begins with some mildly sweet apples, apricots and plums and then moving toward raisins and semi tart cherries. As the fruitiness transitions near midway a solid wheated malt note surfaces to break up the sweet and tart fruit. I seem to get both bandAid, a faint note of wood into the finish and a medicinal quality along the same lines as the band-aid note. Different than most of the Unibroue offerings I’ve enjoyed in the past.

Hazy brown with a lacy head. Good lacing. Sweet aroma, with a vegetal note with the yeast expected from Unibroue. Flavor is sweet and rich, with herbal, spice, and caramel flavors. Definite alcohol bite to this one. Some soy sauce flavors that usually are present in imperial stouts... very interesting beer... maybe not as easily drinkable as the 16, but much more complex.

Pours brown with big tan head. Aroma sweet and spicy (cloves and molasses). Flavor is more sweet, more spicy, and has an alcoholic kick. Mouthfeel is nice and round. It’s good but it’s not great.

Caged corked 750 ml. bottle, the date (December, 2010) along the right side of the bottle, on the cork is (REF 0706), sampled in a tulip glass. L: Opaque reddish brown with some copper highlights near the stem of the glass, a tight creamy tan colored head that receded into a sudsy ring. Swirling the glass a few times causes the head to rise again. Splotchy layers of swiss cheese-like lace spirals around the brim of the tulip glass. 17 is quite attractive, an appealing, taste inducing appearance. S: Sweetly lush aroma that opens up the nostrils. Smells of dark cherries, bubble gum, brown sugar and roasted pecans. Further whiffs brings out light touches of peppery spices. The alcohol has a rubber glue solvent scent. The nose is delectable enough to encourage me to have a taste. F: Airy and moderate bodied, 17 has a smooth and rounded feel in the palate, the kind of quality mouthfeel one expects from Unibroue. The carbonation is active while being softly spry. T: The taste, thankfully, is not as sweet as the nose portends, that is a mild sour acidity to it. Once again, dried dark sour cherries, spicy dark malts, chocolate nougat and brown sugar crystals. The alcohol is well hidden behind a warming peppery spiciness. A crisp and dry long lasting finish of sour cherries, nougat and roasted pecans, the nutty flavor really lingers in the mouth. 17 just screams dessert beer. D: I’m not sure if Seventeenth Anniversary ale will age as well as Fifteen or Sixteen, I think it is pretty close to ready right now. 17 is a nice departure from the other Unibroue Anniversary ales, unique and delicious tasting. I have no problem with recommending to anyone who likes Belgian Dark Strong Ales to pick up a few bottles, one to try now and a couple to store. I plan to open a bottle of 17 during the coming Christmas holidays.

Pours a dark reddish color with a moderate beige head. Good retention and lacing. Aroma is mild, with notes of yeast, sweet fruits and raisins. Taste is sweet up front with caramel malts, but then some spice kicks in. Dry, fizzy mouthfeel. Does a good job of disguising the alchol, with a warming sensation only coming a few drinks in. I agree with the below posters that it will be better with some more time, but it’s still a very nice beer.

Thanks to Rogueone for sharing a bottle. Typical duck and cover uncorking. The beer is a ruby brown color with a medium thin light tan head that diminishes quickly. Thin rings of lacing on the glass. Aroma of spices and yeast as well as some woody and tobacco notes. Medium-bodied and moderately spicy, with clove dominating. Flavors of yeast, dark fruits and malt are present too. The finish is sweet and spiced with a lingering yeast aftertaste. Despite maybe needing some more time to settle via cellaring, this is pretty enjoyable.