Unibroue: Don de Dieu

Unibroue's next featured "strong" in the taster pack is Don de Dieu. It's a triple wheat, and very tart and fruity, with a hint of peach or fig. Despite its strong flavor, the aftertaste is quite clean.

We here at 801 on Tap love Belgians, and all thing Belgian-styled. While Unibroue has excellent variety and flavors, we've found many of them tend to blend together. Don't get me wrong, they're all fantastic beers, but they become hard to distinguish after a while: they're all unfiltered and strong flavored. Don de Dieu is flavorful and has a wonderful aroma. But it still feels like the rest of Unibroue's selection: strong and pleasing to the palate. But it remains undistinguishable.

I'm a big fan of Fin du Monde or Blanche de Chambly. But unfortunately Unibroue's other beers just haven't done it for me. As we delve deeper into the taster pack, we respect their efforts but don't stand apart from the rest.

Unibroue: Trois Pistole

The night of sampling continues...

Unibroue is generally regarded as a premier brewery. They focus exclusively on belgian style beers, which leads me sometimes to wonder if they are really all that great, or whether they are simply riding the wave of hype that has made Belgian beers so popular as of late. Maudite was only OK. I think Trois Pistole is a bit better, though overall it's nothing that'll blow your mind...

Unibroue classifies this one as a strong dark ale. As is typical with Belgian-style ales, the hops here are very muted. However, where hops are lacking, there are plenty of other flavors to come through. The main flavor here is a fruity sweet malt--blackberries or blueberries. The dark color would lead you to expect something particularly bold, but the flavor is actually pretty mild. Combined with a light mouthfeel and a lot of carbonation, this ends up making Trois Pistole a pretty mild beer.

If I were an expert connoisseur of Belgian beers, I could probably say more about this one. But, frankly, it's just too subtle for the vast majority of beer drinkers. So while this is a beer I definitely wouldn't turn down, it also isn't anything I'm going to get terribly excited about.

Unibroue: Maudite

Unibroue's taster pack features a variety of brews straight from Montreal. Commonly found in bodegas across the East Coast. Unibroue's red amber ale, Maudite, is described as spicy and hoppy, but we all found it to be fairly mild. It's smooth, easy to drink and strong, but we're were not quite in agreement with its hyperbolic label. Fin du Monde is a wonderful beer, but Maudite just doesn't have the grit or kick that the rest of Unibroue's selection features. Feel free to pass this one and drink the rest of their beers.

Unibroue: La Fin Du Monde

Summer is officially half over for me, so while it isn't technically the end of the world yet, I felt the occaision (and the 3 day holiday weekend) called for something special. Enter, Fin Du Monde.

I went through a bit of a belgian kick earlier this year, which is when I discovered Fin du Monde. I sorta burnt out on Belgians generally, but Fin du Monde is a brew I don't think I'll ever get tired of. It's a very carbonated belgian-style trippel, boasting that peculiar light Belgian maltiness. Unlike most belgians, however, this one doesn't leave any of that earthy bitterness lingering on your tongue, which makes it remarkably drinkable and refreshing. Fin du Monde also has that subtle spiciness that characterizes some Belgians, and in the absence of any strong bitter flavors, you can really taste the spice. But what makes this brew really stand out is just how well balanced it is. Finally, the beer does a second-to-none job of masking the high ABV (9%).

I don't care if you're a lager-lover, a paleophile, or any other particular brand of beer-partisan. This is one you have to try.