Unibroue Édition 2005

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

22 oz. bottle from John’s Grocery (Iowa City, IA). One of my last bottles of the Iowa stash. Broken open in honor of the girlfriend’s brother’s bachelor party. Pours a dark brownish hazed beauty of a pour with a decent tan head. Aromas are sweet, yeasty with some notes of apple must and pear. Flavors are much different, bordering on darker chocolate malts and dark fruitiness, making this beer special. Smooth yet full bodied, leaving me sad I probably won’t see this brew ever again. A top notch annual that aged very well. Kudos to John’s. Cheers!

The Dan Journal #223. Tasted 8/7/08. 750ml cork and cage. Dark brown and hazy. Sparse off-white head. Cocoa and caramel aromas with a mildly musty note. Full bodied with a moderate alcohol note. Musty with a hint of cocoa dust. Spicy anise flavors. Sweet malts with a touch of vanilla and caramel. Typical Unibroue house yeast character. This is standing up quite nicely. Still rock solid!

Poured from a 750 ml bottle. A frothy, effervescent chocolate. Anise, bubblegum and pear aroma; mostly yeasts, and developed spicy chocolate malts; vinous in white fruits and peppered with a friendly nip of spicing. Flavor is similar; black cherries, black licorice and a dustily herbal wooden quality; somewhat like smoking applewood and potpourri; brownish spices are everpresent, but soft, and complimentary on a bronzy, earthen malt sweetness. Anise predominates in the mid palate, with a gummy dark sweetness; somewhat suffocating to the more subtle flavors, as it tends to be, but it’s nice. Medium-full palate, softly sparkling, finishing on a banana and toasted pecan-like sweetness; alcohol well hidden. The malt and yeast have really softened into each other; this is a gem.

Purchased 750 ml bottle at Cellars Wine & Spirits in St Paul, Minnesota. Pours a hazy brown amber brew with a thin tan head that quickly dissipates to a fine film and thin ring. Aroma of caramel and biscuity malts, some raisin, allspice, dark pitted fruits and some citrus zest. Taste is full bodied, light carbonated with complex flavors of caramel malt, toffee, chocolate, maple syrup and raisins. Finish is semi-sweet with a high alcohol warmth and an aftertaste of tart cherries, caramel and toffee.

Light grape and dark malt aroma. Dark brown color with a brown head. Moderately strong malt beginning. Developing a spicy alcohol middle with a tangy bitter finish. Light palate.

750ml bottle. Pours a swamp water brown with a minimal tan head that became non existent. Aroma had a kind of sour funk and mustiness to it, sour cherries and other dark fruits in there as well. A slightly sour carbonated mouth feel with a faint pucker on the finish. Different than I was expecting but very good!

Bouteille de 750 ml. Nos yeux observent une bière de couleur brune foncée avec des reflets rubis et une mousse quasi-inexistante. Notre sens de l’odorat respire des arômes très madérisés de sucre brun, d’alcool, de cassis, de caramel brûlé, de fleurs, de vieille framboises, de chocolat noir, de cerises noires et de pruneaux. Notre palais fait face à un bon corps avec une texture sirupeuse et nos papilles gustatives à des flaveurs madérisées de petits fruits rouges confits, de chocolat noir, d’alcool, de vin rouge, de sucre brun et de fleurs. Me fait un peu penser à une Trois-Pistoles qui aurait subit les effets néfastes du temps.

750ml caged&corked bottle. Pours a dark, cloudy brown with minimal, light tan head that leaves no lace. The aroma is strong with alcohol. After your nose gets past that aroma, you are treated to a complex array of aromas: flowers, soft and ripe fruit, honey, sweet biscuits, maple, and hints of toffee. The flavor starts sweet and malty with sugary, jellied toast, some caramel, some spices (allspice, nutmeg, mace?), and a good bit of ethanol to boot. By mid-palate, the bitterness of ethanol and some mild, earthy hop bitterness help to balance the sweet malts. There is a mustiness and some notes of brandy and muscat grapes at mid-tongue, too. In the finish, there is a subtle hint of tartness/acid along with a strong note of chocolate and caramel combined with cooked/caramelized banana. The finish is somewhat dry with a roastiness that is not really perceived earlier on the tongue. The beer is quite warming and leaves a complex, fruity, spicy, sweet aftertaste. The mouthfeel is disappointingly still. It lacks the carbonation of a great Belgian ale. The body is meidum-full - lighter than one might expect from a beer that is so packed with complex maltiness and 10% alcohol. Overall, this is a great beer. It would have been even better (easily scoring over 4.0) if the bottle I bought were more lively carbonated - it would have looked better and felt much better on the palate. The bubbles could possibly have even pushed the flavor up to a full 10 points. As it was, it was still a fantastic, delicious treat of a beer.