Unibroue Chambly Noire

Brewery: Unibroue
Location: Chambly, Quebec
Style: Belgian Dark Ale
Brewery Website
Rating: A-

Today's beer tasting is the Chambly Noire from Quebec's Unibroue. The Chambly Noire is pitch black and opaque with a faint hint of amber. The head is light tan in color and there is notable carbonation and sediment visible in the glass. The nose has notes of butter, wine and toast.

On the palate there is an initial butter note that fades leaving a toasted malt flavor that isn't overly strong despite the deep black color. Yeast is a prominent flavor as well. Cocoa and espresso as well as some champagne notes are present. There are also some cherry and citrus fruit notes in the background. The Chambly Noire is dry, but not bone dry. It has a medium body with some carbonation fizz and a slight coating sensation. The finish has black coffee and buttered toast.

The Unibroue Chambly Noire is a novel concept as Belgian-style beers go. This is essentially a dark witbier, and it works pretty well as such. The Chambly Noire is just dry enough without going too far and the strong butter note on the nose is tamed down to a more balanced level on the palate. What can I say, this is another great showing from Unibroue. If Belgian-style beers are your thing, then the Chambly Noire should be on your "must-try" list.

One other point of note: The Chambly Noire provided an excellent pairing with the Domori Puertofino that we recently reviewed on our sister site The Dark Chocolate Blog.

Unibroue Quelque Chose

Brewery: Unibroue
Location: Chambly, Quebec
Style: Fruit Ale
Vintage: 2006
Brewery Website
Rating: A+

The phrase "quelque chose" is french for "something", and this beer sure is something. As loyal readers are aware, Unibroue is a brewery from Quebec that makes some top-of-the-line Belgian-style beers. The Quelque Chose is closest to a Belgian Kriek-style ale, and it is about as good as it gets for fruit ales. I had the pleasure of trying a bottle from the 2006 vintage last night (best before date is 7-17-2011). Here are my tasting notes.

The Quelque Chose has the color of dark Grade-B maple syrup with a strong reddish tint. There is little head to speak of, just a few foam remnants floating on top of the glass. The nose has sweet cherries, toasted port wine, honey and vanilla.

On the palate there is a tangy sweet and sour note up front. There is a toasted winy note similar to vintage port or sherry. The sweet notes are led by honey, caramel and vanilla. The cherry flavor is stong without being overpowering, and is reminiscent of ripe Bing cherries. There is a faint bitter undertone that rounds out the flavor profile. The finish has sour cherries over toasted malt and vanilla. The Quelque Chose had a medium-to-heavy body with a slight fizzy carbonation and some tannins.

The Quelque Chose is the best fruit ale I've ever had. While this isn't a typical light, juicy fruit ale for a session on a hot summer afternoon, this is a delicious beer that is worth savoring. This beer deserves to be on your "must-buy" list. In fact, I highly suggest adding 3 or 4 of these to your must-buy list since this ages quite so well. I know I plan to cellar several of these in the very near future.

Unibroue Maudite

Brewery: Unibroue
Location: Chambly, Quebec
Style: Belgian Strong Ale
Brewery Website
Rating: A

It was a slow week on the site last week, so I'm making it up to you this week by starting off with reviews of a pair of top-notch beers. First up is Maudite from Unibroue. Unibroue is renowned for their extraordinarily complex, Belgian-style ales aged "on lees" in the bottle. And Maudite is arguably the cream of the crop from Unibroue.

The Maudite is deep, ruddy amber in color. It pours with a light tan, bubbly head that fades rather fast. The nose is complex with toasted notes, raisins, orange peel and rye bread. It also has aromas reminiscent of a Belgian White ale as well as dry white wine.

On the palate, the Maudite has notes of raisins and toasted rye bread. There are flavors of orange, port wine and a very faint buttery note. Flavors of berry preserves and mineral water are perceptible in the background. The Maudite has a warming wininess. There is a touch of residual sugar remaining as well as a faint, lambic-like acidity. The finish has flavors of off-dry wine with herbal and lambic-fruit undertones. The Unibroue Maudite has a clingy, drying mouthfeel and a fairly heavy body.

Unibroue really nails it on this one. The Maudite has great complexity with nothing out of balance. If you like Belgian-style ales (that includes fans of Belgian Whites) and you haven't tried Maudite yet, then you owe it to yourself to try this ASAP.

Unibroue Trois Pistoles

Brewery: Unibroue
Location: Chambly, Quebec
Style: Belgian Strong Ale
Brewery Website
Rating: B+

Unibroue is a renowned Canadian brewery that is well-known for their distinctive beers. Almost all of their beers are aged "on lees". This means the yeast and solids remaining from the brewing process remain in the bottle and lead to a second fermentation that provides natural carbonation. This generally leads to more complexity and good aging potential (and provides an excellent source of B-vitamins as well!).

The Trois Pistoles is dark cola-brown in color with a significant amount of haze. There is a thick, fizzy head that is off-white in color. The nose has fruit, wine and a faint butteriness. There is a rich scent that is almost meaty in aroma.

On the palate, the Trois Pistoles is reminiscent of a very dry wine. It is as if someone took a malty beer and removed all of the sweetness from it. There is a faint bitter bite and a hint of acidity. Notes of woodiness and mustiness are present. There is a touch of butteriness reminiscent of some Belgian White Ales. There is a rich, coating mouthfeel and a heavy body.

The Trois Pistoles is a very rich beer that would be well suited to accompany a hearty beef stew. My only issue is the flavor is personally just not my cup of tea. In particular, the butteriness seems a bit out of place. Regardless of my personal tastes, the amount of dryness really leads to the Trois Pistoles being a unique, complex beer.