Grande Réserve 17 (2012) - Unibroue (Canada - Quebec - Chambly)

Grande Réserve 17 (2012) - Unibroue (Canada - Quebec - Chambly) 10.0%

A cloudy reddish brown colour in a glass with a smallish but resilient head. The aroma is loaded with oak along with some spice, cinnamon and nutmeg and herbal characteristics typical of Unibroue's brand of Belgian style ales.

The taste is again very oaky with an alcohol content you can feel. Sweet and spiced with fruit, raisin and herbal flavours, some light hops. Really spectacular and distinct. At various points in drinking the beer it reminded me alternatively of a white wine, a red wine, brandy or cognac. This is a phenomenal beer and a 'must try', there is so much to this beer that I think each person might take away something different.

Don De Dieu - Unibroue (Canada - Quebec - Chambly) 9.0%

Don De Dieu - Unibroue (Canada - Quebec - Chambly) 9.0%

A lovely Belgian Blonde Ale aroma: sweet, herbal hints, something not quite minty, not quite pink bubblegum, malt and nectary floral tones. Barely, barely cloudy and gold in a glass with a big white head.

The taste is lighter and sweeter than Unibroue's darker offerings, more honeyed, lightly herbal and the yeast notes are quite demure. Don De Dieu is quite delicious and, though lightly bitter to lightly moderately bitter, it goes down easier than some of Unibroue's more complicated brews. I still like their Fin Du Monde best but Don De Dieu is a nice middle-ground of high alcohol and good flavour without being overpowering; in fact, it is highly quaffable.

Don De Dieu is a nice beer that pairs well with plenty of foods because of its only moderately strong flavour. It is a fine choice for beer lovers and beer aficionados who want something a little simpler to sip on and share, as well as being a suitable choice for someone who is just getting into big flavour, Belgian style ales.

Terrible - Unibroue (Canada - Quebec - Chambly) 10.5%

Terrible - Unibroue (Canada - Quebec - Chambly) 10.5%

Huge frothy head with each pour. A very dark brown in a glass, not quite opaque. A yeasty, floral aroma of nectar, a few wood tones, very sweet and herbal. Some dark malt touches too of molasses and rye bread.

The first sip is a little overwhelming, but the distinct flavours come into focus with a few more sips. La Terrible has a yeasty herbal taste, very strong and very sweet, and you can taste the alcohol pretty clearly at times. Plenty of darker malt flavours like rye bread and molasses. Not surprisingly, an ale this strong really warms your chest and will give you a pretty good glow after a few glasses. When you consider how powerful the initial flavour is it's a little unexpected how balanced this ale actually ends up being: the Belgian yeast flavours of spicy and floral nectar are nicely paired with the dark malt flavours of a brown ale to make this beer taste like a lovely dessert wine with a darker touch that reminds of something like an exotic fig and port reduction.

Maudite - Unibroue (Canada - Quebec)

Maudite - Unibroue (Canada - Quebec) 8.0%

This beer pours a cloudy gold with a reddish/brownish hue.  It tastes very similar to Unibroue's La Fin Du Monde (which I absolutely love) but certainly has it's differences: sweet, bitter, floral, and yeasty, sure, but there is also a dark roasty red flavour lingering in there. I'm a little annoyed because I think I may have riled up the sediment too much while trying to get this bugger open, not that the sediment is unpleasant (far from it) but that it can sometimes conceal the other flavours. If this happens to you, you can always set it aside for a bit and let it settle but frankly it is great to drink any-which way. A general note, beers like this (with a yeast base in the bottle) can be aged like wine, though probably not as long, setting them aside can let the flavour evolve; too bad the brewery can't do that for us, eh?

Blanche de Chambly - Unibroue (Canada - Quebec - Chambly)

Blanche de Chambly - Unibroue (Canada - Quebec - Chambly) 5.0%

An enticing spicy and floral aroma. The taste is more citrusy than the aroma; the floral and spiciness tastes are all there and there is also a creamy umami taste. Though it has that creamy mouthfeel I mentioned it isn't too thick but also a somewhat watery which makes it a very refreshing as well as interesting. White Ales are amongst my favourites for just that reason. The lees or sediment does not take away from the taste really at all so there is no need to go to great lengths to avoid it. I would still recommend drinking this from a glass rather than a bottle (especially the 750 ml bottles!) so you can better appreciate the colour and aroma.

Ephemere Cassis (Black Currant) - Unibroue (Canada - Quebec - Chambly)

Éphémère Cassis (Black Currant) - Unibroue (Canada - Quebec - Chambly) 5.5%

A beautiful, floral, fruity and mouthwatering aroma of black currants. The taste is very much the same with a tart punch carrying the lovely black currant flavour, sweetness and more than a hint of citrus. There is a light malty backing that is more pronounced in the aftertaste as the showy fruit flavours fade to leave an appetizing impression of a rye (or darker) bread with a fruit glaze. Éphémère Cassis is a charming, slightly cloudy pink colour with a brown hint in a glass and a real standout.

Blonde de Chambly - Unibroue (Canada - Quebec - Chambly)

Blonde de Chambly - Unibroue (Canada - Quebec - Chambly) 5.0%

Gold in a glass with a full frothy head. Nectary and flowery yeast aromas; quite sweet with a honey flavour and a touch herbal. Quite a spicy taste to go along with floral yeast flavours - quite obviously a beer on lees. The aroma especially, but also the taste, settles down to some thing more conventionally malty and sweet. However, there are still effervescent and delightful hints of the yeast flavours throughout the beer getting stronger as you get closed to the bottom. If pouring the whole bottle into a glass at once, it is worth swirling the last inch of so a bit to grab some of that tasty yeast off the bottom.

The history behind the name Blonde de Chambly is interesting: Unibroue named it les Filles du Roi, young women of marriageable age who came to Nouvelle France to help populate the colony in 1665. With the cool story, the handsome label, the matching gold foil and the tasty brew inside this is a very nice beer, definitely worth picking up.

U Miel - Unibroue (Canada - Quebec - Chambly)

U Miel - Unibroue (Canada - Quebec - Chambly) 4.9%

Deep gold in a glass with a frothy head that fades quickly. A dry pilsner aroma with a grain flavour, faintly like a light rye bread, with a hint of roast and malty with some sweetness. The taste is basically the body of a lager with a sweet honey coating. There is a faint peach flavour that may be overlooked but it is there. Not as much of the natural spice that honey beers sometimes have but a nice honey pilsner all the same: refreshing and very pleasant with a touch of honey.

Trois Pistoles - Unibroue (Canada - Quebec - Chambly)

Trois Pistoles - Unibroue (Canada - Quebec - Chambly) 9.0%

Super frothy and a very dark brown colour in a glass. A lovely sweet apricot, herbal, spicy, floral and faintly yeasty aroma. Reminds me of Esrum Kloster. After the froth subsided the aroma was more dark fruit, plums, but still spiced and sweet with a herbal (faintly minty) aroma. Also something that reminds me of ginger bread cookies without being heavy on the ginger - probably a mix of the yeast-born spice and the molasses-esque tones of the dark malty. Some herbal taste but followed quickly by dark malt taste, a boatload of sweetness and a nearly masked alcohol taste that occasionally jumps out and bites at your toungue. I thought my bottle of Trois Pistoles (which has a spectacularly cool label) was already warm enough (out of a warmish fridge for more than fifteen minutes) but as it warmed further it became more balanced and more similar to a tasty, strong brown ale.

La Fin du Monde - Unibroue (Canada - Quebec)

La Fin du Monde - Unibroue (Canada - Quebec) 9.0%


A delectable spice filled floral aroma, matched by an amazing flavour. Strongly sweet, yeasty, bitter with powerful notes of citrus, pear, coriander. This product of Quebec tastes like a true Tripel from the abbeys of Belgium. To think, it's taken me so long to try this one!! La Fin du Monde is a little thicker on the toungue than some but really beautifully crafted and has a truly amazing mix of flavours not to mention the fact that it's cheaper by volume than any Tripel you can buy from Belgium. I'm definitely going to be picking up La Fin Du Monde again and again.