Unibroue Maudite

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

Serve in Trappist glass, Tulip, Tumbler

Very nice, spicy and vineous aroma. Poured a semi-opaque mauve with a great head. Flavor was very spicy and belgian like, with stressed yeast, much like a tripel. A great drink, only lacking in assertiveness and intensity.

Very nice, but not outstanding. Pours a hazy red/copper, surprisingly large carbonation bubbles (could have been the effect of my glass, though) and a bit of yeast at the bottom. Nice, drinkable flavors, but slightly weak (compare Victory V10, which is at the opposite end of the flavor intensity spectrum), yeasty, fruity, slightly sweet. Goes down shockingly fast.

Bottle. Beautiful pour, hazy brown ruby with a creamy tan head and strong visible carbonation. Beautiful color gradient. Nose consists of yeast, candis, and a load of delicious malt. Light fruitiness (berries), spices, and light alcohol. Tastes strongly of malt and yeast, with spice, banana, cloves, brown sugar, and lots of fruitiness. Smooth feel, moderately dry finish. Elegant, subtle bitterness is only found in that same finish. Complex! but the high levels of yeast and spice are out of balance, and I don’t feel like scratching the inside of my throat. This is an adult beer, and that earns it a lot of points ... but I don’t think I’ll be revisiting anytime soon.

Nice sweet malty aroma, caramel and toffee, sugar, figs, Belgian yeast. Dark amber-brown, cloudy (with dregs) with off-white foamy lacing head. Medium-heavy watery body with medium-high carbonation. Starts sweet and malty, with caramel, and some light bitterness. Finish is drier, yet still sweet, with obvious alcohol. After is a bit warming, with more dry bitterness and a light nutty sweetness. Good balance, though a little watery.

Glass at Winking Lizard Crosswoods. Hazy brown pour with a medium beige head. Citrusy (orange and lemon) and spicy nose with notes banana and caramel. Banana flavor up front with caramel malt and clove with some orange zest in the finish. Pretty good for the style.

UPDATED: APR 16, 2006 Rating (12/31/2004): Sweet and malty aroma. Almost reminds me of a barley wine. Aroma fades with head dissapation. Was cloudy and fizzy with a thin head and nice red/brown color. Has a good thickness. Tasted like bubble gum, pitted fruit, and banana. Almost a bit sour when swallowed. 7, 4, 7, 2, 13 = 3.3

Rerate 4/16/2006: I picked up a 12 oz bottle of this because I thought I hadn’t had it before. Anyway, I realize I basically haven’t because I had it so early into my rating career. So, I crack open the twist off bottle. I realize that I probably had this in the 750 mL format before. Anyway, then beer pours to a coppery body with a tall foamy white head and nice lacing. The aroma is mangoes, dust, pineapple, extreme yeast. The flavor is bubblegum, yeast, dried banana chips, raisins, light port wine. The palate is medium-full bodied, creamy, light tartness, effervescent, minerally, nicely warming.

12 oz. bottle from the Unibroue sampler pack. Poured a brownish dark amber with a prominent tan head that does not die very much and laces well. Aromas of alcohol infusion and some light fruitiness that one might equate or identify to a belgian ale (Surprised?!?) with some somber notes that might be considered wheaty. Tastes of light kick with a lively fruitiness and touch of spice. Warming alcohol sensation that lingers. Finish is typical of the smooth belgian feel. This brew has character, but it subued compared to what I expected. A good belgian strong but not my favorite.

2 years old bottle courtesy of Sasquatch911 (thanks Francois!), shared with ozujsko
I’ve been looking for this one ever since I’ve first heard of Unibroue (long story). Poured a completely opaque brown colour. Thick and persistant white head. Very lively carbonation, to the point of fizzyness. The cap blew off the bottle with a very, very, loud pop. Luckily it didn’t hit ozujsko in the head. Only in the chest. Hm. Lovely fruity-malty-coriandery Belgian nose. Nice spicy and fruity taste. Some toffee, honey and some weak acidity. Man... this tastes more Belgian than some Belgians do. Not terribly impressed, maybe a bit lighter than I expected, but it’s an extremely pleasant beer, dangerously drinkable and most of all tasty beer.