Unibroue La Terrible

Brewed by Unibroue (Sapporo)
Style: Belgian Strong Ale
Chambly, Canada

750ml bottle - $8.48 at Sherlock’s in Marietta, Georgia. Best Before: 2-26-2012. Appearance: Pours an opaque, walnut brown body with an appropriately tall, foamy, light tan head. Smell: Sweet-scented, malty nose coming across as a plated up Shoofly Pie for dessert along with some secondary notes of dark fruits and spice. Taste: Dark, not-quite-roasty maltiness with flavors of molasses, dark brown sugar, dark candi sugar, and sweetened cocoa-flavored coffee. Burst of black cherry, sour cherry, and cooked raisin fruitiness. Earthy spiciness with a hint of black pepper and ground cardamom. Small touch of alcohol warmth, though, as it warms somewhat, it becomes a moderate pinch of alcohol warmth. Finishes dry but also malty with a taste of, well, again, I’d say Shoofly Pie, but I feel that reference would be entirely lost on most. Mouthfeel: Medium-plus body. Well carbonated with a tingly, altogether bubbly mouthfeel. Drinkability: Paired remarkably well with the movie "Casino". I’d pair the last third with some food to see how it goes, but I only have yogurt and ramen, so... Easily one of the better Unibroue brews I’ve had, but, sadly, not one I often see around in Georgia. Ah well, such is life. Drinks surprisingly easy for purportedly being above 10%.

Bottle from about a year ago enjoyed July 09. Pours a murky darker but thin brown with a thin sudsy light tan frothy head. Aroma is sweet and fruity, oxidized, sugary, one-note straightforward, Unibroue yeast of course, very sweet, slightly dark and rich. Flavor of dark raisins, toasted, almost burnt, brown sugar, very sweet, one dimensional, some Unibroue yeast but not as much as other offerings, flat dull raisins, sugar. Thin bodied, a bit sugary, nice carbonation though, sharp larger and fluffy. Okay.

Terrible in name only, this is a fabulous beer. The colour is very dark, almost black and the off-white head is VERY carbonated witghout being fizzy. The aroma and taste have lots of things going on, with various fruits and malt. The high alcohol content makes itself known without being overpowering. More, please!

Her cork lets loose with a brilliant pop and his, freeing a billowing white mist that broils and eeks over the rim of the bottle. As she roils into my large, bulbous chalice, she melts into an array of deep ambers, garnets, rubies, and brown-black tiger’s eye. It should come as no surprise that she quickly sports a rising head of large bubbles; fading just as quickly, she cuts a discernable trail of lace on her way down to her final destination. Her haze and head dissipated, she gives free reign to a rich nose that oozes moist prunes, plums, dates, raisins, and licorice root atop warm dark breads drizzled with melted brown sugars and cinnamon. A crisp apply presence cuts through her thick, sweeter side to reveal hand-picked crunchy red apples and pears just in season that leads into a sweet nip of alcohol warmth. Lips wet with anticipation, I dive into her awaiting depths, only to be met with an explosion of bubbly effervescence and vivaciousness that lifts both body and soul. Concentrated sugar sweetness hits first in all her succulent dark fruits glory even as burgeoning warmth makes her presence known. Cinnamon sticks and spice tingle on top of my tongue and compliment her warmth which lingers in my breath. There is a surprising presence of tartness which also nips and plays with my senses while crisp crunchy apples contrast chewy warm dark breads that seem to ooze rum, spices, and molasses. As she warms, her body remains effervescent and pleasantly light which helps La Terrible maintain her refreshing palate. Once more, Unibroue steps up to my plate and hits a home-run on all accounts. Now to just sit back, sup, and savor the last of my La Terrible. No notes allowed.

Oh Unibroue, how I love thee, let me count the ways…

Seriously, don’t think, don’t doubt. Find your nearest liquor store and take home as much Unibroue as you can. They have about 10 year round beers that are available either in large 750ml bottles or 4packs. They have best-buy dates on the back which are usually within a 2-3 year range depending on the beer. “Freshness” need not apply because we are talking natural, quality ingredients and brewing. Long live Unibroue.

750ml bottle best before 11/11/13. Pours dark brown with a nice head. Aroma is nice with a cherry, malty scent. Taste is simalar to aroma. Excellent beer, highly recommended.

750 ml. bottle. Best before date of 2/26/12. Pours a happy mocha head, over a slightly cloudy, dark brown (SRM 28) body.....nose is heavy with dried fruit, cherry, raisin, prune, also banana, bubblegum drift in along with slight molasses, add a bit of yeasty bread....taste is very similar, with many dried fruit tones, cherry, prune, raisin, fig, somewhat sweet throughout, but finishes fairly dry....mouth feel is thick, but surprisingly light, carbonation is medium. A lovely thing, not too heavy, the alcohol which lightens it is hidden by the thick esthers and light phenols.

2004 bottle. Aroma is woody, fruity, subtle malt, and light cherries. Flavor is spicy, minty, lightly malty, and very very clean. This may be the cleanest 5 year old beer I have ever had. It’s so crisp and clean. Alcohol is very well hidden, really very good. A sneaker.

Very aromatic with fall-ish fruits...figs, raisins, plums. A bit thinner than expected and the high alcohol content is a little too up front but it is very, very good beer. Highly recommended.