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**Baron von BeeGee** · 04-02-2006, 05:12 PM

I'm not much of a Belgian beer drinker (though I do like them), but after looking at the 4-packs of the Unibroue beers in the store time after time after time, I finally had to try one when they went on sale. I opted for La Maudite because it has a picture of a flying canoe (I'm fairly easy to please).

These are fantastic! I have no idea what I'm tasting in there...could it be grains of paradise (which I've never tried)? Wish I could describe the flavors better. The beer itself is 8%, but very nice body and somewhere around a red in terms of color. These really go down too easy.

I'd ask for a clone recipe, but after some significant fruitless searching on the web this doesn't look like one that has been successfully cloned. There were one or two recipes floating about, but no followups, and they didn't really look up to snuff.

**Chairman Cheyco** · 04-02-2006, 05:38 PM

They make some good beers. My favorites are Raftman and Ephemere. Some of their stuff is not to my liking at all though. I think Wyeast 3864 is what they use. There was a recipe for clone of one of theirs on recipetavern.com, I think it was for La Fin Du Monde.

Edit: I think that was the most dis-jointed, aimless post I've ever submitted. Another famous indian was Crazyhorse.

Sasquatch · 04-02-2006, 07:54 PM

That Unibrou stuff has always struck me as being super-charged bad homebrew. They have a sickly sweet cloying consistency, which is about 1/10th of the way to a Trappist, leaving 9/10th to be desired. I always get the feeling that they aren't quite done fermenting, but as they are overcarbonated as often as not, I remain confused on the issue. Not a personal favorite.

**Baron von BeeGee** · 04-02-2006, 08:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chairman Cheyco

They make some good beers. My favorites are Raftman and Ephemere. Some of their stuff is not to my liking at all though. I think Wyeast 3864 is what they use.

That seems to be the concensus, and I believe it is available April-June. I've also read it's quite easy to culture the yeast from their bottles.

Glibbidy · 04-03-2006, 09:01 PM

I'm partial to La Fin Du Monde. I find all Unibroue products to be exceptional, despite the highly phenolic taste.
The unibroue 10 is another exceptional beer of theirs. I don't know if it's still available.

As far as I know they don't market themselves as "belgian style beers". So all I'm saying is they aren't trying to brew like trappists.

**Baron von BeeGee** · 04-03-2006, 09:22 PM

Belgian beers span quite a broad range beyond just the 6 Trappist breweries, but I may have made the assumption just based on the Maudite which is the only beer I've tried. Seems like I read that the head brewer (or perhaps original head brewer) came from Chimay, and that they referment their beers in the bottle in the Belgian style of bottle conditioning. La Maudite strikes me as a strong Belgian dark, perhaps given the spiciness. In any case, I'm no closer to finding a clone!

If I could clone worth a damn on my own I'd be optimistic. I might have to take a sample to the LHBS and see what their thoughts are.

Glibbidy · 04-04-2006, 02:49 PM

I have been enjoying unibroue products for over ten years. It all started for me with Maudite. While the first thing that comes to mind with most of their beers is either belgian or french, they simply refer to their beers as different and totally unique to other beers. The Belgian influence is clearly evident in Paul Arnott's brewing style.

So with that said I think they have clearly made a nitch market by offering beers that they call different and unique by american standards. La Fin Du monde is cleary a tripple, and most of their other beers are "on lees".

If you like Maudite, you should try Ommegang Abbey Ale or Ommegang's Three Philosphers.

I'm rambling on like a fool now, so I'll stop.

Baron- Can you get Maudite in the 750ml bottles? That would be a great start for a clone as far as harvesting the yeast.

**Baron von BeeGee** · 04-04-2006, 02:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by glibbidy

La Fin Du monde is cleary a tripple, and most of their other beers are "on lees".

My understanding of "on lees" is that it signifies bottle refermentation/conditioning, but I had never heard the term before noticing it on Unibroues. I consider the Maudite as a Belgian strong dark ale, or Belgian specialty. But yeah, I haven't asked Unibroue what they think

Quote:

Originally Posted by glibbidy

If you like Maudite, you should try Ommegang Abbey Ale or Ommegang's Three Philosphers.

I have tried the Three Philosophers and liked it, but not as much as the Maudite. I'm not much of a kriek drinker, though I have nothing against them. I'd be curious to try the unblended version of 3P! I have not tried the Abbey Ale, but will grab a bottle soon.

Quote:

Originally Posted by glibbidy

Baron- Can you get Maudite in the 750ml bottles? That would be a great start for a clone as far as harvesting the yeast.

I haven't seen it packaged that way here, just the 4-packs, though I may have overlooked it. I did notice a nice little cake in my 12oz'er, though. I may just try to grab some 3864 since it's 'in season' at the moment in parallel with a bottle culturing effort.

But first I need a grist, and I have no real experience with these beasts. I was fooling around yesterday and I'll probably try something with some Special B and CaraMunich, and perhaps some chocolate for color. The spices are even more troubling, but I think I can get some decent advice from my LHBS on that front.

cweston · 04-04-2006, 02:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Baron von BeeGee

But first I need a grist, and I have no real experience with these beasts. I was fooling around yesterday and I'll probably try something with some Special B and CaraMunich, and perhaps some chocolate for color. The spices are even more troubling, but I think I can get some decent advice from my LHBS on that front.

I just cracked the first of my dubbel last night, made with exactly those specialty grains, a pound of sort-of-dark candi sugar, and Wyeast 1214 Abbey Ale.

I've not had Maudite, but if you tell me about the color and flavors you're after, I can compare that to the color and flavors in my dubbel, which used 8 oz each caramunich and special B and 1 oz chocolate.

Glibbidy · 04-04-2006, 03:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Baron von BeeGee

But first I need a grist, and I have no real experience with these beasts. I was fooling around yesterday and I'll probably try something with some Special B and CaraMunich, and perhaps some chocolate for color. The spices are even more troubling, but I think I can get some decent advice from my LHBS on that front.

Here is a grist from a 5 gallon AG dubbel that I made a few years ago. I was trying to replicate a westmalle dubbel. I'd be happy to work with you on refining a maudite clone as I would love to make it as well.

2-Row Pale Malt 50.00% of total grist
Munich malt 21.00%
Belgian Biscuit malt 6.00%
Belgian Aromatic Malt 6.00%
Belgian Special B Malt 6.00%
Malted Wheat 1.00%
Belgian Candy Sugar 10.00%

Target Gravity 1.070
Actual Gravity 1.073
Volume Yielded 5 gallons

This is a start. I'm hoping there might be someone else out there who could provide some additional input. While I would consider myself a seasoned belgian beer drinker, I'm a total freshman when it comes to brewing the stuff.

After I migrated to 10 gallon batches earlier this year I promised myself I would start brewing belgian as soon as I got my gravity dialed in at 10 gallons.