Unibroue Édition 2005

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

Dark brown and orange with a big off-white rocky head. Cherries and apples in the aroma with strong yeast presence. Taste of cherries with some spice and honey with a strong malt presence. Gets a tad hot as it warms. Ends rather sweet and long.

Bottle. Pours a clear sparkling reddish-brown with a large lasting foamy off-white head. Big yeasty aroma along with fruit (mainly apples), honey and spices -- smells quite nice. Flavour is fruity and spicy with some sweet malt and a slightly sour and alcoholic finish. Medium bodied. Not one of Unibroue’s best but still pretty good.

Bottle. Very dark brown to black with a very thin to non existent off white head. Sweet and fruity aroma with some caramel. Taste is dominated by cherries and malt. A little bit of sourness in the finish with some vodka like alcohol. Carbonation is hardly noticable, gets a little hot with the alcohol as it warms.

Very dark with a rich foamy head. Well-balanced carbonation. First sip: fruity and sweet. Cherries. Hmm. A little sour, the good kind of sour, as the brew unfolds itself upon my palate. Hardly notice the alcohol. How do they do that? But why should I care?

Mahogany red color with a big pillowy head. Aroma is sweet and yeasty with earthy fruits and decayed flowers. Flavor is sweet, lively in the mouth. Alcohol is easily noticable. Very warming but somewhat sticky in the finish. Will probably be better in a year or so.... I hope.

Pours a thick reddish brown color. Smells of currant and purple fruit. Very yeasty and carbonated taste. Goes down easy. Reminded me most of a double style brew.

Bottled. Pours a deep dark ruby color. Moderate dirty head. Strong and spicy yeast aroma. Some dark fruit and maybe some grape as well. Slightly sweet right up front. Followed by some yeast. A hint of roasted malt. Slightly fruity with some noticable alcohol in the finish.

Beer #300......yey...finally! What a way to celebrate too. If one only knew the trouble I went to, to find swill to drink for my 299th brew. sheesh. I drove around for like 2 hours and finally found a Carlsberg @ Target for $1.50. On to the good stuff. Pours a dark trios pistole like hard prune burgandy with a decent head. Slowly melts like the glaciers in Greenland, consequences leading to the rising levels of black cherries, prunes, banana, and vinegar offset to a mild flemish ale characteristic. For taste, it’s a bit bundled to tight, even after raising the temp. Glad I got a few to store away for a few years. But for now, it’s still loverly. Lots of the same characteristics in the nose, minus the flemish edge. Dark raisons and prunes, caramel brown sugar, ample hop brushing the tongue here and there, with a surprising splash of fresh black cherry. at about half way up the bottle, it develops a nice chewy complexity to it. After bite is a bit musky and aromatically earth toned, but no real defined elements one would hope to achieve when maturing it for a few years. Can’t wait to pop this one open in a year or two:). yum!