Trois Pistoles

Brewer: Unibroue
Style: Belgian Strong Dark Ale
ABV: 9%
Country: Canada

Pours a dark murky brown color. A solid half inch of fizzy bone white head. Fruity sweet aroma with a dry white-wine grape aroma.

The fruitiness caught me off guard as that is a typical characteristic of a lighter ale. Raisins and brown sugar are both present. The 9% ABV is hidden very well. The alcohol makes its appearance as a nice and long warming feeling that lingers for a while.

Certainly a good beer, not quite as good as the La Fin Du Monde though, but still well done. A-

La Fin Du Monde

Brewer: Unibroue
Style: Tripel
ABV: 9%
Country: Canada

"La Fin du Monde" is French for "The End of the World." For New Years Eve, this seems like an appropriate choice. The tripel style originated in Belgium as a strong pale ale. The name is derived from the brewing process where up to three times the malt found in a standard Trappist ale is used. While not a traditional Trappist ale, La Fin du Monde is brewed in the fashion.

This beer can be found in a large 750mL bottle or a 12 oz foil wrapped bottle. Mine was poured from the latter. Pour was a bright gold straw color. A big white fluffy head hung around like a cloud. Another bottle conditioned beer so the body was hazy and contained lots of bubbles.

The smell has a lot going on. Sweet and flowery aroma up front with some honey and spiciness mixed in.

Plenty of spiciness found in the aroma leads the taste charge. Plenty of flowers, honey, and apples present as well. A warming hint of alcohol shows up at the end. The body has a syrupy mouth feel along with a champagne like effervescence. Nearly no bitterness. Finishes crisp and easy, incredibly delicious. A sneaky little bastard goes down without giving much indication that it packs a punch. I could drink a whole bunch of them in quick succession followed by an slurred, incoherent conversation with a tool shed. An outstanding beer, drink 'em if you've got 'em. A

Unibroue Maudite

Brewery: Unibroue (Unibrew)

Style: Strong Ale

ABV: 8.0%

Maudite, a French word translating loosely to accursed or damned.

I had high hopes for this French Canadian brew as I have tasted both the Trois Pistoles and La Fin Du Monde, both of which I will review at a later date. Needless to say though those two left an impression and created high expectation for our brewers from Québec. Complexity is one thing they are well known for along with their bottle conditioning.

So as with their other recipes I found myself rolling this bottle trying to get the sediment mixed in. Once I felt a sufficient rolling was completed popped the cork and began the pour. The color of this beer was of dark caramel with a thin lacy head that turned to just a ring around the glass.

The aroma was very malty with a hint of roastiness, pretty sure thats not a real word outside the world of beer. The smell went will with the color of the liquid sitting in my glass.

The initial sips of this beer left nothing to be desired, an amazing flavor fills the mouth and hits every taste bud. While my palate isn't the worst it was difficult separating the different flavors. The brew was very malty with a slight sweetness that was well balanced by only a hint of bitterness. The finish was that of caramel which was expected based on the shade of brown in my glass. After a few sips I began to also pick up a hint of ginger. I am sure there are things I had missed with this and as my palate gets better I plan to try this one again to find them.

This gets a solid A+ from me as a beer I plan to enjoy more of. My mother, who doesn't care for beer, even said she enjoyed the taste that came with this one!

-Roy

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