Unibroue Eau Bénite

Bon gout de caramel, pétillant, pas acre, un gout caramélisé plus fort que la Maudite.

Petite particles float about in this murky, light orange beer, capped with a generous white foam. The aroma is sharp, even when cold, cutting with pepper, cloves and lemon zest. Bready, almost rye-like, malts, some bananas, pineapples, plums and simple syrup lend depth to the affair. Initially the flavour is laden with fruit sugars and a slight pepper and rye bite. The pepper, along with lemons, strengthens towards the finish, bringing with them some caraway seeds as well. A Dijon mustard tang haunts the aftertaste, in a good way. Upon warming the plums really start singing and a hint of sweet corn is detectable. Weighty for a Tripel and the texture is quite creamy. Carbonation is very high as with most Unibroue offerings. It’s really not much of a Tripel, in my opinion, and those who don’t like plums need not apply, but it’s better than average. Most interesting is the addition of corn which somehow doesn’t ruin the experience--I’m impressed on that point. It may not be holy water, but at least it’s not wholly water. 33cl bottle, Duvel tulip, bbe 06/04/09, bottle conditioned.

Name: Eau Benite
Date: 03/28/1998
Mode: Bottle
Source: total beverage, DC

dark yellow, whispy head, lots of bubbles, strong sweet malt aroma with slight floral hops, light body, light malt flavor, slight alcoholic character, too light, but still 7.7%
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Name: Eau Benite
Date: 04/07/2007
Mode: bottle
Source: tasting
Score: 2.6 to 3.4

clear pale yellow, a bit of bready character in the sweet malt aroma, malt flavor is richer than before, lots of sweetness, light fruity esters, touch of spicy character,

Aroma: 7/10; Appearance: 7/10; Flavor: 7/10; Palate: 6/10; Overall: 13/20
Rating: 3.4/5.0
Drinkability: 7/10
Score: **+/4

I think this is by far the best of all of the various Belgian-style ales by Unibroue. This one’s a triple, I suppose. U makes at least two other triples (Fin du Monde, Don de Dieu), both of which I find inappropriately sweet and spicy (coriander and orange peel belong in *witbiers*, not *triples*). Eau Benite is still on the malty side, but it isn’t inappropriately sweet. We seem to have here the aroma of American hops, which is unusual in this style of beer, combined with at least some malted wheat and obviously Belgian yeast. It’s a great combination, really: if you can imagine a strong American Pale Ale with wheat and Belgian yeast, you can imagine Eau Benite. Warning: it’s considerably sweeter than the standard Belgian triples (say Westmalle or Chimay), but if you will be rewarded if you sip this beer with an open mind.

Amber with an OK head, that leaves a nice lace. The aroma has notes of yeast, fruit and spice. The flavour wasn’t a hit for me, but I have to taste it again some day, because this was an early rating. I found notes of hops, flower and a LOT of honey, heather honey I think. IMO this should be cold, otherwise it’s way too sweet and cloying.

Bottle, 75 cl. Gushed at first, so I suspected infection. Huge gobs of yeast swimming around. Must have caught this bottle just as it was turning though, none of the taste/aroma of infection present. Rich, estery aroma, some hops. Flavour is yeast dominated, fruity and estery, maybe hints of banana. Palate is ruined by too high an effervescense, but I suspect that might be from the gusher bug. Will try again, especially seeing how this is half the price of Westmalle Tripel in Sweden.

12oz bottle from robinvboyer. Aroma: Bready malt, candi sugar, floral and spice, green grapes. Appearance: Medium golden in color and hazy. White head was full and creamy with great retention. Good lacing. Flavor: Bready maltiness with a light caramel note, Floral and peppery spice, white wine vinousness. Nice dry finish. Palate: Medium bodied. Medium-high carbonation. Overall: A decent Tripel. Spice and floral notes were interesting.

A hazy golden body with a white head. Aroma and flavor is sweet, bananafeel and little citrus. Also some yeast. Little spicy in the end.