Unibroue 17

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

Bottled. An unclear brown beer with a medium sized beige head. The aroma is sweet malty with ntoes of caramel, yeast, and fruit. The flavor is sweet with strong notes of spices and yeast, the spices include ginger and thyme added cardemomme coming late. Nice body.

Bottled. Hazy mahogany colour, rich firm head. Intense fruity roasted chestnut aroma. Sweet and fruity. caramelly and faiely lively with prunes and overripe plums. Feels dusty and mature.

RB#5800: 75 cL bottle. Pours dark brown and hazy with a huge yet slight creamy light tan head. Yeasty and slight roasted caramel malty aroma. Sweet and slight roasted with a mild yeasty and also spiced. Spice note initially show ginger, followed by cinamon and ends with cardemome. Ends mild sweet, yeasty and spiced. Nice.

<b>Bottle 75cl. at home.</b>
Clear medium amber color with a large, frothy, good lacing, mostly lasting, off-white head. Aroma is moderate to light light heavy malty, caramel, perfume, fruity, pumpkin, moderate to light light heavy yeasty, spicy, wood, peppery, alcohol, ginger notes,. Flavor is moderate to heavy sweet with a long duration, with a spicy ginger - peppery spike. Body is medium to full, texture is oily, carbonation is soft. [150908]

Bottled@Fonefan (thanks for the bottle omhper!). Amber colour, small beige head. Aroma is alcohol, raisins, toffee, soap and some mild spices. Flavour is hops, spices, some alcohol as well as mild birch sap. Probably needs a bit of aging, since it felt a bit strong, sharpedged and alcoholic.

Date: 05/24/2008
Mode: Bottle
Source: Tasting, Cellar Party

Appearance: clear dark amber, wispy beige head, bits of drippy lace,
Flavor: sweet dark caramel malt flavor with lots of fruity esters and well balanced with a spicy character,
Overall: dark caramel malt flavor, lots of fruity esters, just a touch of esters kept dry by the earthy spicyness, lasting spicy finish, light yeasty bready character,

Aroma: 6/10; Appearance: 7/10; Flavor: 6/10; Palate: 6/10; Overall: 11/20
Rating: 3/5.0
Drinkability: 6/10
Score: *4

Dark brown and opaque with chestnut accents. The head foams up then falls to a frothy 1cm. Complex aroma of plum, cinnamon, cherry, apple, that thick Indonesian soy sauce. There’s almost a canned tomato richness of malt...lots of toffee...and a slightly woody alcohol note like a light rye whiskey. Just a stack of aromas layered, at once distinct but at the same time stuck together like a gooey baklava.

The flavour has a rich, deep fruitiness that melds brilliantly with toffeeish, almost oxidized malts. There’s almost a sherry vinegar taste to this, but without the acidity. Chocolate nuances come through with rum-soaked bread pudding. A firm and slightly hot alcohol note carves through the finish, not clean like usual but like a dull machete through jungle. All the while, more layers are revealed, like a little gooseberry tartness and some brown sugar. A fun beer showing a degree of style and nuance I haven’t seen from Unibroue in years, and yet still feeling like Unibroue beer. Spritziness makes for a finish that’s a somewhat weak counterpart to the crazy fun the rest of the way through this beer.

Corked bottle
Cloudy dark amber to brown, creamy head. The aroma is malty, with vanilla oak, with notes of spices and porto wine. Strong body structure, strong flavor of malt caramel and medium chocolate, medium sweet, and with some nice vanilla. In the end there is a robust caramel final, well bitter, with a hint of alcohol and very light sweet liquorice. Oak aged Belgian Ale? why not... Very good.