Unibroue

[AnOldUR]

Wife and I went to a beer and food pairing dinner at Maloney’s in New Jersey last night. This was our second time going to one of these events and again the food was excellent. This time the beer was all from Unibroue Brewery in Canada. I enjoy Belgian beer from time to time, but have my limits. Last night tested them.

Unibroue Blanche de Chambly (witbier, 5%) paired with lobster bisque
Unibroue Raftman (Belgian Pale Ale, 5.5%) paired with seafood salad
Unibroue La Fin du Monde (triple, 9%) paired with stuffed pork chops
Unibroue Noire de Chambly (Belgian Dark Ale, 6.2%) paired with chocolate torte

Spent some time this morning search HBT and it seems the consensus is in favor of Unibroue. I didn’t get it. After the first beer they all tasted the same, just with different levels of alcohol and malt. A thick spicy somewhat phenolic Belgian yeast derived aroma and flavor dominated each beer. This and the cloyingly malty sweetness became overwhelming to me. Got through the salad fine, but the sausage stuffed pork was calling for a Pale Ale. Could not drink the Chambly with the torte. The chocolate clashed with the beers spicy sweetness. I had to resist the urge to go to the bar looking for a good Dry Stout or Porter.

So, what am I missing? Should I be giving Unibroue a second chance?

 

[Yooper]

I don't know- I'm not a huge fan either. Of course, I am not much of a fan of Belgians in general. I do like a good tripel or quad, but in small quanitities, and a Belgian pale ale that is light and crisp and fruity is also enjoyable at times. But never something that I'd want to drink all evening.

 

[Revvy]

I wonder if the pairings themselves were right. I would at least give a couple of the beers a chance without food before totally dismissing them. At least La Fin du Monde, and the Noire De Chambly.

I personally am on the fence with them (and I've only had the last 2 myself) they're "ok" to me, but not spectacular. I too find them sweeter and also somewhat "bubblegummy."

I couldn't picture the Chambly paired with a Chocolate Torte at all. Sweet on Sweet? No I'd take a Dry stout as well.

But give them one more try alone.

 

[AnOldUR]

But give them one more try alone.

Have to do that, but I'm with Yooper. Small doses could work. Last night was overload.

 

[AnOldUR]

. . . but the Unibroue rep gave us some nice glasses.

 

[Revvy]

I love my Maudite glass.

 

[emjay]

Well, I wouldn't call those their best beers, that's for sure. Maudite is probably better than all those, and I'd say it's maybe a decent beer. To do a Unibroue tasting without both Trois Pistoles and Don de Dieu is kind of silly to begin with... to not even have just the former makes it all kind of pointless.

However, based on everything you've said, you already seem a bit ambivalent about Belgian abbey-style beers to begin with. And I have to wonder if a single-brewery tasting is really the best way to try abbey-style beers... considering so much of the character of these beers is yeast-derived, and that they use a single house strain for most, if not all, their beers, a great degree of "sameness" is pretty much expected. So especially if it's a style (or group of styles) you're not particularly enthusiastic about, it probably makes for a dull evening, and definitely wouldn't do justice to the beers served towards the end. And really, the only beer of the 4 there that's even particularly well-regarded was the 3rd one to be served.

Honestly, you may just not like any of their beers, but the lineup was horribly chosen, and it's obvious somebody didn't really do their research. I know exactly what I'd do for the first beer, as well as the main course and dessert beers (Don de Dieu, Trois Pistoles, and Quelque Chose), and the remaining beer would definitely not be any of the ones you had.

 

[AnOldUR]

... considering so much of the character of these beers is yeast-derived, and that they use a single house strain for most, if not all, their beers, a great degree of "sameness" is pretty much expected.

This is exactly what I said to my wife during the meal. Their house yeast was the major contribution to all the character of their beers. American breweries like Rogue can get away with this using a clean house yeast like Pacman and then create individual styles though grain and hop choices. Belgian’s are all about the yeast and don’t have as much room for variation.

You are correct. I don’t have a lot of experience with Belgian beers so I appreciate the suggestions for others to try. You can’t blame Maloney’s for the selection. There was a Unibroue rep there who I believe made the calls. He was a very enthusiastic and entertaining salesman and although his product knowledge was good, he had trouble with some basic things outside that area.

This dinner was a gift from my daughter and SIL for my birthday on Thursday, so the Friday dinner was more of a timing thing. Maloney’s does these every month. Next month is “Jersey Fresh.” They pair beers brewed in NJ with meats and produce from the Garden State. We were at last years addition and are looking forward to doing it again.





Edit to say:
This thread could double in the Pub Talk forum? :cross:

 

[slowbie]

Unibroue's okay but I'm not really into beer from macro breweries...

 

[Misplaced_Canuck]

This is exactly what I said to my wife during the meal. Their house yeast was the major contribution to all the character of their beers. American breweries like Rogue can get away with this using a clean house yeast like Pacman and then create individual styles though grain and hop choices. Belgian’s are all about the yeast and don’t have as much room for variation.

You hit the nail on the head with the above.

I personally have never cared for Unibroue even though I lived in Montreal until I was 26.

M_C

 

[McGarnigle]

Unibroue's okay but I'm not really into beer from macro breweries...

That's a bit harsh. Whatever the faults of Unibroue, they aren't the usual ones of macros (marketing first, trying to please everyone). I really don't think Sapporo is the one telling them to go heavy on the yeast.

 

[slowbie]

Actually, I think Unibroue makes some solid beers. I just find it funny that unlike Sam Adams, New Belgium, Red Hook, Michelob, etc., I have never heard anyone blame their dislike of Unibroue on the fact that it's a big brewery/owned by a big brewery. Maybe it's because it's owned by Sapporo and not 'public enemy #1' (AB-Inbev of course).