Unibroue 17 Grande Reserve

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 8 | Mouthfeel: 7 | Flavor: 9 | Overall: 8

I got to taste a small sample of this while volunteering for a beer tasting festival. Dark brown appearance. Flavors of caramel & chocolate malts, toffee, mild fruit, oak, etc. Pretty complex yet balanced pretty well and not overly sweet. Still...a heavy beer and you can feel the ABV%.

Aroma: 7 | Appearance: 8 | Mouthfeel: 8 | Flavor: 8 | Overall: 8

Pours a brown /ruby colour, with a great looking head that disappoints two minutes later. Aroma is fruity,oak and yeast. Flavour of sweet malt, fruity, a little smoke and yeast. Smooth with a medium mouthfeel. Tasty but seems to lack punch until the 10% alcohol warmth kicks in towards the end.

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 8 | Mouthfeel: 7 | Flavor: 8 | Overall: 9

Pours very hazy dark reddish brown color with a nice 2 finger dense and fluffy head, that reduces to a nice cap that lasts. Nice thick soapy lacing clings on the glass. Aromas and flavors of of prune, fig, pear, molasses, brown sugar, toast, toffee, caramel, herbal, banana, pepper, clove, cinnamon, and yeast earthiness. Great balance and complexity. Medium-high carbonation and medium-full bodied; with a creamy, slick, earthy, and lightly prickly mouthfeel that is great. Alcohol is extremely well hidden with only a slight warming noticed well after the finish. Overall this is a very nice Belgian strong dark ale, dangerously smooth.

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 8 | Mouthfeel: 7 | Flavor: 8 | Overall: 8

Brother-in-law broke this out for Mother's Day dinner pairing. 2011 version. Murky dark brown pour, tall sustained off white creamy head, lots of lacing. Ripe fruits and Belgian yeasts dominate the nose and palate, nicely so, rich ripe figs and dates, a bit of citrus, nice toffee sweetness, very light underlying funk from the yeasts and maybe the yeast on Lees, more light ripe fruits. Rich and tasty.

Aroma: 7 | Appearance: 8 | Mouthfeel: 8 | Flavor: 8 | Overall: 8

Lots of dark fruit and spice, not overly done. Warming and a little alcoholic but not hot. I dig the beer and the yeast...can't see obvious big differences between this and the regular 17, but its been a while.

Aroma: 6 | Appearance: 7 | Mouthfeel: 6 | Flavor: 7 | Overall: 5

750ml cork & caged -

It really not much different than the non-barreled version of 17, and the addition of the oak adds little in terms of flavor, and a LOT in terms of price. Yeasty aroma, slight roasted caramel notes, fruit and some woody notes. Strong spices, malts and yeast bury any barrel characters, which seems like a rip-off since you're paying extra because it's barreled. It's a nice beer, but classic example of "over-priced-and-barrel-aged-not-required".

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 8 | Mouthfeel: 8 | Flavor: 9 | Overall: 9

750ml corked and caged bottle. Dark pour - really dark brown with a huge tan head. Aroma was dark fruit, spices, yeast, and alcohol. Strong taste echoing the aroma, no burn from the alcohol. Smooth mouthfeel, sweet touch at the finish. I like this one a lot. Good thing it's a yearly offering. Probably Unibroue's best.

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 7 | Mouthfeel: 8 | Flavor: 9 | Overall: 8

Poured a nice foamy brownish head with a deep brown appearance. Aroma is of darker malts, spices. The flavour is pretty mixed and varied. Very spicy feeling on the palate, roasts, caramel, yeast, darker type fruits all come together in the overall taste. Mouthfeel is extremely tingly with a tinge of alcohol aftertaste. Hard to believe this is 10%abv. Nicely hidden. Under the impression this is a yearly ritual. If so, bring on 2013 and beyond...

Aroma: 7 | Appearance: 7 | Mouthfeel: 8 | Flavor: 7 | Overall: 8

pours with a stable cream head .. . musty cherry, tobacco, jam, alcohol and basement flavours, also similar in the nose .. . slightly sour slightly sweet, nice link up .. . good but seems less than last 2 years .. abv is fairly well hidden too .. . wwf: pandas that wrestle ... ..

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 8 | Mouthfeel: 7 | Flavor: 8 | Overall: 8

Celebrating the new year with this latest Unibroue master beer that is based on the one that came out a while back. Let's see if it changed or not. 2011 edition, No. 2011-20182. Pours a copper colour with a beige creamy head that had great retention and thick foamy lacing all around. Loaded with medium-scent aromas: apples, roasted malts, alcohol warmth, dark fruits, hints of smoked wood, molasses with the typical Unibroue spicy Belgian yeast. The mouthfeel is pretty simple, wet and medium, with a little tart in the end and no burning at all. Mild plums, raisins and other dark fruits in the taste with some notes of apples lingering into the aftertaste. Pretty close to the one that came out three years ago, but maybe a tad inferior. Wish they would of come out with a Unibroue 20. 20 years, now that's nice. Happy 2012 everyone !!