Unibroue 17

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

750ml Bottle: Vinous aroma. Smells of alcohol, grapes, yeast, pepper, and spices. Poured brown in color with a large, dense, tan head that lasted throughout. Cloudy. Opaque. Excellent lacing. Flavor is medium sweet. Tastes of candi sugar, pepper, spices, alcohol, fruit, yeast, and port wine. Medium to full body. Thick, chalky texture. Lively carbonation. Sweet, alcohol warming finish.

Perhaps after another year in the bottle this will be a better beer. Right now, it’s not bad but I think a little longer and it will be right back up there with the 16. The 17 though, had a aroma profile that I found to be very odd. Pencil shavings. More specifically, pencil shavings and lead. Very woody and mushroomy smelling. Almost like they took Terrible and added some to this (Terrible always has been very mushroomy for me). Flavors of earth and wood dominate, with a minor kick of fruits. Malts were sweet as well. I did enjoy it but the pencil shavings caught me off guard. Since I do enjoy most Unibroue beers, I’ll give this one another go around 2009.

750 ml bottle - thanks tim!! dark amber and off-white head; this was pretty tasty; sweet, malty and nice yeasty aromas; drinks smooth and crisp with a malty candy kind of feel to it; a richness and spice to it as well

Appearance: Pours a hazy, reddish-brown body with a small, fizzy, off-white head. Smell: Gobs of maltiness in the aroma with supporting notes of clove, coriander, wood, golden delicious apples, peaches, and raisins. Taste: Toasty toffee maltiness though with a restrained sweetness. Bold myriad display of fruitiness. More of the cloves and spice and also a tree bark woodiness creeping in. Noticeable sour yeastiness. Earthy tastes of tobacco and vintage leather. Some puckering tannins. Chewy, spicy finish. Mouthfeel: Medium-bodied. Rather well carbonated. Drinkability: A pretty solid brew and one of my favorites from the Unibroue anniversary series.

Poured from a large bottle into a trappist glass. A nice cloud escaped as I opened it and the beer poured smooth. The color was a rusty, amber-brown with a huge, long-lasting, dark tan head. The aroma was heavy with raisins, and banana. There were also notes of caramel, and some earthy hops for balance; maybe some apple and grapes. The taste is sweet and fruity, with a bit of bitterness for effect. It is best for sipping, with strong carbonation, and a very lively mouthfeel; mostly dry, but not overly so. Definitely a quality beer that I enjoyed, but a hefty price.

Very nice. Pours dark amber with a big, bubbly tan head. Apples, grapes, cotton candy, banana, and lots of spice in the nose. Vinuous taste. Tart Granny Smith apples and white grapes, mixed with clove, yeast, anise, and a boatload of malt. Sometimes got a sour apple/vinegar blast if I took a big swig. Overall, a really big beer.

bottle. above average frothy tan lasting head into reddish-brown body. decent lacing present. aromas of moderately spices, light yeasts, ripe fruits (banana), also lightly coconut. alcohol is well hidden (though a touch of warming was noticed). flavor is bitter with sweet pushing through. average carbonation. watery to lightly dry texture. moderate to long finish duration. good good stuff.

Tasted at the May Northern California Beer Tasting. This Belgian Strong Ale pours a deep amber brown color from a 750ml bottle. Large to medium sized white foamy head. The aroma is dark fruit and sweet, with something else that I could not identify. Medium bodied BSA. The malts are fruity and sweet, the malt flavors seem a little unsettled, as if they can’t quite figure out what the balance of caramel to sweet should be. The hops are earthy. There is a slightly odd flavor here, it may be the beer needs more bottle aging, but it just doesn’t seem to have that Unibroue character to it, it has the Unibroue yeast character but not the malt character. Mouthfeel is full. Finish is clean and smooth. Aftertaste is slightly bitter.