Unibroue 17

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

Cloudy, copper appearance with a small, off white head and sparce lacing. Yeasty aroma shifted to soft fruit and toffee. Earthy, sweet, caramel malt taste with spices and dark fruit accenting the yeastiness. Alcohol is upfront and lingers through to the aftertaste. Full bodied, well carbonated mouthfeel with a long lasting finish.

BB 12-10. Pours an opaque, murky, muddy, chestnut color with a full, creamy, frothy, beige head which is mostly lasting and leaves some frothy, Belgian lace. Nose is nice and fairly complex; almost fruit cake-like with plenty of doughy yeast and fruity notes of dates, figs, blueberries, and raisins with other notes of dark chocolate, bundt cake, anise, and lots of baking spices (nutmeg, allspice). Very similar flavor but more cake-like than anything else; the yeast is still very doughy, not quite bready, but less fruity than the nose. Other notes of dark chocolate, faint coffee, anise, still lots of nutmeg and allspice, pecans, and lighter fruit notes of dates and blueberries. Palate is near perfect with a full body, mild warmth, creamy/velvety/round feel, and a soft to lively carbonation. Finishes with some light earthy bitterness, coffee notes which adds some light bitterness, dark chocolate which is also lightly bitter; a completely malt forward beer but finishes with a moderately low bitterness in a long progression leaving some cake and baking spices on the tongue. Maybe it is the fact that I waited more than a year to try this one but everything was put together very well in this one. It was complex with plenty of malt and yeast but still managed to create a nice bitterness in the finish which complimented the rest of the beer. Not quite as good as 16 but still a very nice BSA. Unibroue never fails to disappoint.

Bottle. Pours deep, dark amber with a sturdy, frothy off-white head. Aroma of malt, spice, chocolate, and hints of licorice. Heavy, full body with a creamy, smooth finish. Very good Belgian strong, but the Unibroue 16 was much better.

It poured a dark reddish liquid with a big foam that left a medium sized lacing. It had a smell of yeast, red berries and various fruits. It had a fruity taste of yeast and a warm alcoholic finish. Felt dry in my mouth. A very nice beer.

Bottle 750ml. Aged 6 months piror to tasting. Poured dark brown (virtually black) with a tinge of red and a large, dense, frothy, lightly tanned head which was fully lasting. A very strong and complex aroma with dark chocolate, rasins, blueberries, dates, figs, caramel, pepper, allspice and spiced gingerbread. Flavor was a light bitterness with rum & raisin chocolate, currents, blackberries, plums, roasted notes, ginger powder, hints of caramelized figs, a touch of coffee and a warming finish. Remarkably well balanced; beautiful contrast in flavours. Medium to full bodied with soft carbonation, a lightly syrupy texture and a long length finish.

Pours hazy brown, white head poor retention. Pleasant aroma very rich and bready. Subtle fruit notes. very nice. Very complex. Kind of fruity, Malty, bready. But it is very alcoholic tasting. Kind of detracts from the palate. Not bad, ..

The smell is quite an assault on your nose, all I can think of is something that has been stored in a plastic container for too long. Malt in a bag?? Dark and thick, not too much head, but a light rign of bubbles is always present. Tastes strongly of medium flavoured malt and the yeast is prickly to the tounge. Very strong aftertase of the malt, its quite nice and fades away evenly. A great flavour combination but not quite as appealing as their regular brews.

Bottle. Aroma of tropical fruit esters, bready malt, brown sugar, Unibroue yeast. Though darker and maltier than other recent anniversary beers, the flavor has a spicy yeast character typical to their anniversary ales in particular. This is coupled with more of those unusual tropical fruit notes (unusual in that they’re obviously not from hops) and juicy caramel malt. Another more than solid brew from these guys.