Trader Joe's Vintage Ale 2008
The Trader Joe’s 2008 Vintage Ale is a brown Belgian-style ale of great distinction produced by traditional top fermentation methods resulting in a rich and full-bodied flavor. The Champagne-like effervescence and smooth moth feel are the result of a natural secondary fermentation in the bottle obtained by the use of carefully selected yeast. This deep brown color vintage ale, with a tint of red hue displays effervescent generous beige foam. It has notes of coffee and spices, mild aroma of tropical fruits. Trader Joe’s 2008 Vintage Ale has a smooth round mouth feel and notes of roasted malt, carrying toffee-like flavor, finishing with well balanced noble hops. True to it’s Abby Dubbel style, this year’s vintage ale offers a highly distinctive flavor enhanced by the fruity and floral notes of the yeast. The result is a complex and warming ale that offers both strength and subtlety. Brewed once a year in limited quantity, please enjoy Trader Joe’s 2008 Vintage Ale. This ale will age exceptionally over time, developing more complex flavor as the years go by. Exclusively bottled for Trader Joe’s. Best before 09-09-2011.
3.6
184 reviews
Monrovia, United States
Community reviews
Bottle on 01/15/2011 at the 13th Richmond Gathering. Clear dark brown body with a small tan head. Sweet spice flavor with some fruity notes. Sweet malt flavor with belgian spice. Medium body with moderate carbonation.
Bottle: Deep garnet, moderate to large frothy off-white head, fairly sticky lacing. Bready nose, dark pitted fruit. Fairly bready on the tongue. Slight spiciness emerges on the nose and tongue as it warms. Not as spicy as the 2009 though. Lingering spices with a hint of breadiness and dark pitted fruit. Tastes very much like a Unibroue product. These releases always strike me as just as flavorful as most of the Unibroue line yet not as alcoholic. This one was also fairly tasty, like the 2009. Similar, just not as spicy as the 09. Maybe that’s what time does, albeit these are different beers.
caramel, no pine, honey, slightly floral flavors with syrup. This might be my favorite year.
[3620-20110304] 1pt9.4floz bottle. Lightly fruity aroma has a hint of something fresh and exotic, a little like freshly baked buttered bread. Clear, amber brown body with a quick bubbly off-white head. Wine-like licorice fruity malt flavour. Medium-full body has noticeable booze. Medium body. Interesting. (7/3/7/3/14) 3.4
(c/o garthicus and HogTownHarry, w/ them, blankboy, GregClow, jerc)
Bottle [750ml] shared with HogTownHarry, garthicus, GregClow, jerc & mabel -- c/o IrishBoy. Pours a deep amber-brown with a small diminishing fizzy off-white head. Aroma is malty, bready and fruity along with Belgian yeast and spices. Sweet and bready flavour of Belgian yeast, sweet malt, brown sugar and spices. Alcohol’s pretty well hidden. Medium bodied. Amazing stuff, I loved it!
2011-03-04. Crisp brown body with a nice foamy beige head that fades. 3+ Aroma of spices and mild alcohol over a malty core. 7+ Flavour is similar, sweet malty core with pleasant spicey overtones. Not unlike a sweeter maltier version of Maudite? Smooth medium bodied palate. Not earth shatteringly unique, but very enjoyable. Bottle shared by HogTownHarry/Garthicus
Thanks to Irishboy. Appearance: murky copper brown, little to no head. Aroma: vanilla, caramel, raisins, quite the ’Belgian’ yeast nose to it, prunes. Lovely. Flavour: Tangy malt, very fruity, quite yeasty, lots of carbonation, overripe apples with a caramel finish.
Thanks Richmond crew! Follows ’07 Vintage. Darker brown-tan, still transparent, still a head gone in 2-3 seconds. Apple, sugary nose, light grain. Lots of Candi sugar sweetness, light pepper and cardboard in the finish, faint tea bitterness. Bit better than 07, but still a mess of flavors.
Bottle at 13th Richmond Gathering, courtesy of maniac. Pours clear tawny with an average, fizzy cream colored head, medium retention with good lacing. Aroma is heavy malt (bread, cookie, caramel, toasted), light hops (floral), and average esters (apple/pear) with notes of dates. Flavor is heavy malt (bread, cookie, caramel, toasted, nutty), light hops (floral), and average esters (apple/pear) with notes of dates and brown sugar. Medium body and warmth, medium-high carbonation, low creaminess with a dry finish.
Date: 1/15/2011 Source:Maniac Spicy yeast character in aroma with moderate caramelized sugars . Mostly clear dark amber with little head. Flavor has a lot of spicy yeast phenolics, dry with some caemelized sugars. Medium to light body with light mouthfeel from high carbonation. Finish is medium with spicy yeast character residual.
Sampled at the Richmond Gather XIII. Clear chestnut pour with fair near clear head. More bready and sweet than the 07. lots of biscuit. Not as complex. But good price. Love trader’s joes.
750 mL bottle shared at Richmond Gathering 13 by maniac. Thanks! Pours a hazy copper color with fine floating particles. Thin head. Good head retention and lacing. Aroma of yeast, toffee, faint chocolate, faint berries. The taste is toffee, caramel, peppery yeast notes, faint smoke, berries. Medium bodied.
A: The pour is a brownish color with a minimal off-white head forming.
S: The nose is quite sweet with lots of caramel, candi sugar, and light fruits such as pears and apples. There’s a touch of alcohol as well as a hint of darker fruits like raisins.
T: Despite the definite sweetness, there’s a touch of dryness to the beer. Still some good fruit notes like apples, pears, raisins, and plums. Lots of candi sugar and caramel as well.
M: The body is medium and so is the carbonation. A bit of alcohol warmth.
D: One of the best (if not the best) of the Trader Joe’s vintage beers. A more standard and drinkable Belgian-style beer.
750 ml bottle shared by Matt at the Royale. He picked this up at Trader Joe’s in Brentwood a couple years ago. Looks a lot like a Unibroue bottle, unsurprisingly. Pours a clear deep amber color with a sticky off-whtie head. Aroma of Belgian yeast (might as well call it Unibroue yeast), banana, sweet bread, apples, candi sugar, and caramel malts. The flavor is basically along the same lines. Medium-bodied, with low carbonation and a yeasty mouthfeel. Will called this a ’yeast mess’ and that’s hard to debate. Not bad, though.
In short: A very yeasty, bready and sweet Belgian amber ale. Below average Unibroue offering
How: Bottle 750ml. Consumed when about 2 years of age. Sent to me as a bonus by daknole. Thanks Dakine.
The look: Cloudy dark amber body topped by a beige ring of foam
In long: Nose is has fruit cake and signature Unibroue yeast. In mouth the beer is mainly bready and sweet. Like eating a fresh baguette and brown sugar at the same time. Also some extra-ripe bananas, some caramel, some dark fruits and a spicy sensation (cinnamon, cloves). The carbonation is a bit overdone and tickles the tongue. The signature Unibroue yeast really comes out strong in this one. As a Quebecer I am used to bath, do my laundry and brush my teeth with Unibroue yeast. But even I thought that the yeast was taking a lot of room in this beer. Strangely there was also early signs of oxidation. Surprising considering this is not that old for an Unibroue. The Unibroue 17 which is about the same age is peaking right now while my bottle of Trader Joes 2008 was already on its decline. Strange. This is very annoying that Unibroue, a local brewery, make many beers only available for the USA market. I need to trade or travel to another country to get bottles that are brewed about 20 miles from my house. That royally pisses me off. But that’s how it is, business is business. I know I need to look at the big picture because I’m a grown up mature adult. Does the big picture has boobies on it?
Bottle. Hazy dark brown with a thin beige head with good retention. Aroma is yeasty with sugar, alcohol, raisins, malt and dark caramel. Flavor is spices, sweet belgian malt, raisins, plums, alcohol, yeast and alcohol. Full body with fizzy carbonation. Very good.
(2008 bottle, sampled 3/16/10. Clear amber color. Small off white head. Sweet malt and raisin aroma. Sweet raisin/cherry and malt flavors. Avg duration. Smooth finish, with light alcohol. Thin texture. Moderate to high carbonation. Spare lacing.
Courtesy of kiefdog. Pours clear copper with tall off white head. The aroma has spicy yeast, apples, coriander like spices and sweet sugariness. The taste is really sweet with honey drenched ripe red apples then moving quickly into coriander and spicy yeastiness. It’s smooth with growing brightness into the finish leaning toward spiciness and apples.
Thanks to kiefdog for the share. Pours Hazy orange-brown with an off-white head. Nose is yeast, malt, sugar, molasses, dark fruit, and lots of fizz. Flavor is similar with the trademark Unibroue fizz and yeast. Flavor has fruit and molasses in it, too. Medium bodied and makes me burp.
(Old BA rate - bottle)
Muddy water brown in color, poured with a nice finger of white foam. Head didn’t last too long. Passion fruit aromas, and maybe even some pruniness with sweetish toffee and maltiness. Fruitiness right up front, and the passion fruit comes near apple-like in the flavor, toffee and a bit of a roasted coffee in the finish. Nice tight carbonation, and thinner MF. Very much what I would expect for the style, but perhaps a bit lighter than other examples. Very drinkable dubbel.
2008 Vintage
11/26/2009: Trader Joe’s Vintage Ale 2008... Aroma: Yeasty with some generic spice. Appearance: Hazy red-brown color; large, foamy beige head. Flavor: Sweet candi sugar and caramelized malt; spicy malts; plum; hints of Concord-like grape; slightly sharp and metallic in the finish; alcohol pops out when the beer is warmer. Palate: Smooth; medium-bodied. Overall: Still good, but I don’t think that it has really changed that much over the past year...
750 mL corked and caged bottle from Trader Joe’s in Cincinnati, Ohio. Rating #145 for this beer.
750 ml bottle purchased at Trader Joe’s, of course, and for a very good price. I drunk a couple bottles when it released (before I was on RateBeer), but decided to age this one. Pours a color that seems to be evenly balanced between red and brown with a generous off-white head. Aroma of candied dark fruits, Unibroue yeast, brown sugar, and some bready malts. Flavor of more sweet dark fruits, yeast, rich malts, and some spice that seems amplified by the prickly carbonation. Some nice dark chocolate comes in the finish. The alcohol is completely hidden. The year and a half of aging seem to have done this very well. Despite the Trader Joe’s label, this beer screams Unibroue in both nose and flavor. Another great one from these talented Quebecois. (126, 280)
Courtesy of my dad, who had been storing a bottle since last holiday season (he recalls buying it for $4.50 a bottle--are you kidding me!!! I would buy a case!). Despite the low price point, I actually think this compares favorably to many other Dubbels I’ve encountered. Very smooth and predominately yeasty, with a light barnyard funk. Masks the 9% ABV incredibly well. Now, the year of aging could be coming into play here, but this just goes to show that $ does not always = superior beer. I should also say that if you like Unibroue’s other offerings, you’ll probably enjoy this as well, as it definitely has that distinct Unibroue flavor profile. If you can somehow find this stuff, get it and drink it.
Pours a transparent deep mahogany with an average-sized from of beige head. Aroma of sweet doughy dark caramel malts with some raisin and fig notes. Starts with good malty fullness, sweet biscuity caramel and raisin flavors and that trademark Unibroue yeast character in the finish. Well-balanced and fairly complex, just like most of their other offerings.
Bottle drank side-by-side with 2007 and 2009 vintages. Pours deep brown with nary a head. Smell is light spice, with some syrupy sweet notes. Taste is bready and sweet malt and dark chocolate. Spicier than the 2007 vintage, but a bit too boozy and sharp. Syrupy and smooth in the mouth, but I think this one could use another year or two.
Bottle: Poured a hazy deep brown color ale with a large off-white foamy head with good retention and some lacing. Aroma of typical Unibroue Belgian ester with deep rich malt with hints of candi sugar. Taste is also a nice mix between some rich Belgian malt with notes of candi sugar and that typical Unibroue ester. Body is quite full with great carbonation and no signs of alcohol. Very well done though quite similar to prior year vintage.
25.4 oz bottle. Clear cola brown with a fluffy white head. Nose is yeast, brown sugar and raisin with hints of plastic. Yep, it’s a Unibroue. Medium light, sparkly and sudsy. Taste is chocolate banana and sour fig with a bitter earthy finish. Just OK.
Bottle thanks to bu11zeye. The taste is sweet, fruits, belgian, and very sweet. The look is clear, golden to amber in color, with an off white head. The smell is fruits and the same as the smell.
Bottle thanks to bu11zeye. Brown in color with a decent sized beige head. Aroma is of spices, caramel and yeast. Taste is very spicy with notes of yeast and booze.
Bottle courtesy of bu11zeye. Poured a light brown with white head and no lace. Flavor of ginger, cinnamon, and caramel. Aroma of sweet florals and caramel. Tasty.