Unibroue Raftman

Brewed by Unibroue (Sapporo)
Style: Smoked
Chambly, Canada

Serve in Dimpled mug, Lager glass, Stein

This is a smoked beer? Ah bon... Cellar temp in a Unibroue glass just as suggested on the bottle. Coriander and Unibroue yeast powerful leaving-me-indifferent aroma. But the taste doesn’t leave me indifferent as its fruityness (sweet apple and citrus) mixes itself with subtle notes of whiskey, caramel, ginger bread and spices. Obvious Unibroue product with its distinct yeastiness, it is nevertheless a pretty unique product that is pretty enjoyable and easy to drink.

I had this one a long time ago. If I have the chance to drink it again, I’ll update this rating

Bottle. Pours amber in color. Lots of foamy head from a poor pour. Aromas of whiskey malts, spice,yeast, orange, floral notes, and some earthiness. Really nice nose. Taste is yeasty with some whiskey and smoke. Really easy drinking but a bit thin, still very good.

Pours pretty brown/amber. Maybe umber? Burnt umber? Anyway huge head that sticks around with tons of carbonation, and slightly hazy. I don’t really get anything smoky in the smell. It smells awfully Belgian, lots of clove, and spicy character. some banana in there, light sweet citrus aroma too. Light touch of caramel to throw this off from being too much of a Belgian pale or whit. Nothing particularly whisky like though. Taste is lots of bright apple, pear white grape kind of fruit esters, almost verging on sour, like a granny smith apple, not like a sour beer – it’s not tart. Spice is noticeable, but subtle. Maybe a slight like woody kind of “spice” character. It’s just not at all heavy. No alcohol, mouthfeel is quite light and the carbonation contributes to that. Finish is very abrupt, just some spice yeast. Can’t say that the whiskey malt is noticeable in the taste really, I mean Im sure I could dig super deep to pull out some pretentious flavour, but if I didn’t know that this beer used the whiskey malt, I couldn’t make any claims about it.

Tasted on draft in May 2011 at the Glunz Beer Expo. Pours hazy golden with a thick white head that slowly recedes to spotty lace. The nose is dusty and fruity Belgian yeast with some light caramel, bread, and just a hint of smokey malt. The flavor is the same fruity and dusty yeast, a bit more smokey than I expected based on the nose, with just a light hint of bitterness. The body is medium with lively carbonation and a long fruity and lightly smokey finish.

Pours a nice copper brownish colour with a frothy head. Big aroma whiskey peaty malt. flavour is smooth clean malty with a mild bitterness

75cl bottle to Chimay glass. Aroma: Wildly aromatic for a 5.5% beer....holy shit! Peaches and cream, pepper, citrus fruits, toffee, smoke, wild floral scent. Much like Driftwood’s Farmhand but way more aromatic. Appearance: Hazy orange color with a coarse white head which fades to a fine white top. Taste: Orange peel, coriander, sweet, dry malts with an acidic smokey/peppery flavour accompanied by fruit notes that fade to a slight hop finish. Typical Unibroue signature flavour too. Palate: Perfectly balanced, fine carbonation, medium bodied. Alcohol undetectable. Overall: A "lighter" beer that drinks like an 8% Belgian. Pretty amazed with this one, thought it was gonna be naff given all the not so great reviews, it’s actually pretty complex and enjoyable to drink.

750ml corked bottle pours a pale amber color with a massive white fizzy head that retains well and settles to some thin lacing on the glass. Aroma is mild smoke with yeast and hints of fruit and whiskey. Taste is malty sweet with the yeast and smoke flavors and a mild hop bitterness. Medium bodied with loads of carbonation leaving a fizzy feeling on the tongue. A very satisfying beer.

Pours light amber with smallish head that lasts well. Aroma is dominated by yeast esters with some bready notes. Some malt sweetness and banana notes come through. Flavour is initially masked by carbonic acid, yeast flavours, tartness with some light sweetness. Very small hint of smokiness on the back end. Very highly carbonated with light body that falls off the tongue quickly. Could use more smokiness or malt flavours to compete with the yeast driven beer.