Trader Joes Vintage Ale 2011

The 2011 TJ's vintage ale is good this year. If you like Duvel, pick one up, they're great!

Very tasty. Moderate spice notes (not over the top). Some tartness, maybe sour mashing?
Rich toasted grains. Belgian yeast character of course.

I think it's got a very nice malt profile this year. A bit more dark caramel / chocolate malt. It's also a bit sweeter than last year, but I'm going to pick up a few extra bottles to cellar (as I did last year). As always, it's got that nice Unibroue yeast - tart with it's own special fruity profile.

very nice, how much are they?

I thought it was alright. It was pretty carbonated and the overall experience was more like soda than a beer. It wasn't quite as complex as I was expecting. I'm wondering if cellaring it would improve the overall experience. I may get another bottle to try again plus one more for cellaring.

I'm not a fan. I picked up two bottles because of the price, knocked off one while watching a movie with my wife, and brought the other to my mother's last night for Christmas Eve. Maybe with some age, but I don't see myself buying another one to try.

I think this is a beer intended to age, this brewery is not made to age the beer before they sell it. I can guarantee that this beer is less than 8 weeks old. Properly age it to next winter and report back.

I have to agree that aging would likely improve it. To me it was VERY sweet, to the point of being cloying. But there's that strange natural flavoring added statement on the bottle that makes me wonder what they added to it.

I agree that these TJ's Vintage Ales improve with aging. I saved a bottle from 2010 and drank it in November. It definitely dried out, although because it seemed to have a very subtle hops profile, it wasn't anything special. However... these bombers sell for $5.99 (here in MA) and for a product from Unibroue (one of my favorite breweries - probably because I really like the yeast profile and high carbonation) it's a real bargain.

I would suspect that the "natural flavoring" is some sort of spice "extract", maybe intended to bump up the spice profile without using actual spices.

If you like Unibroue, and are looking for something that's nice enjoy with comfort food plopped in front of the tv on a cold evening, you can't really go wrong for the price. If you've got the space to tuck a few bottles away until next Fall, then I say go for it.

If you don't like Unibroue's other beers, then you'll probably not like this one.

humann_brewing said:

very nice, how much are they?

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$4.99 in northern CA.

cl330b said:

$4.99 in northern CA.

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yep, I looked them up and they are brewed about 90 miles from me. I picked up a couple to age

I agree it needs to age, but still not bad for off-the-shelf.

I really enjoyed this year's. So much, in fact, that I went back and bought 4 more to age. At $4.99 a pop it's just too good to pass up.

I had last year's and thought it was far too carbonated and very dry, so I steered clear this year. For those who have had both, can you provide more details on how the 2011 compares?

GT_YellowJacket said:

I had last year's and thought it was far to carbonated and very dry, so I steered clear this year. For those who have had both, can you provide more details on how the 2011 compares?

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I'm not going to lie, I thought last years was better. But this years is damn good! For $5, you can't possibly go wrong. The bottle is worth half of that. I picked up a half case, i'll probably just forget about them till next fall.

EDIT: just reread your post. This years is definitely not too dry. As far as carbonation, it was pretty carbonated. However, I only poured a few ounces and stuck a plastic stopper in the bottle till the next night, at which point it was perfecto.

I picked up a couple and will just sit on them. I am out of work so I can't go crazy on buying beer

I was disappointed, drinking it fresh. I felt the spice notes were a way too forward. it's hard to predict the future, but my feeling is that this beer would be better if put to bed and opened a year later.