Unibroue 17
Inspired by the great Belgian brewing tradition of Trappist monks established over the centuries, Unibroue 17 was first brewed in 2007 to celebrate our brewery’s 17th anniversary. However, the overwhelming success of this specialty brew made it obvious that we could not let such a great ale slip into the anonymity of retirement.
As testimony to its remarkable flair profile which increases in complexity as it ages, the original batch bottled in 2007 was awarded an international platinum medal three years in a row, and the prestigious title of "World’s Best Dark Ale" when it was well past three years in the bottle!
So in 2011, we proudly brought back this French Oak aged, bottle refermented dark ale, with the "Grande Réserve" appellation as a fitting endorsement of it’s exceptional quality for aging. Brewed only once a year, in limited quantities, and individually numbered "brasseur" bottles, this is truly a flavorful delight for the specialty beer enthusiast.
As testimony to its remarkable flair profile which increases in complexity as it ages, the original batch bottled in 2007 was awarded an international platinum medal three years in a row, and the prestigious title of "World’s Best Dark Ale" when it was well past three years in the bottle!
So in 2011, we proudly brought back this French Oak aged, bottle refermented dark ale, with the "Grande Réserve" appellation as a fitting endorsement of it’s exceptional quality for aging. Brewed only once a year, in limited quantities, and individually numbered "brasseur" bottles, this is truly a flavorful delight for the specialty beer enthusiast.
3.9
910 reviews
Chambly, Canada
Community reviews
Quite an understated taste for such a style, but a delicious taste at that. Well-balanced toffee, malt, wood, caramel, and raisins. Not too watery and not too thick. Unibroue comes through strong once again.
Bomber from Total Wine Sterling (Virginia)
Aroma: woody, caramel, earthy, nuts, dark fruits
Appearance: brown with a tan head
Taste: medium sweetness, medium bitterness,
Palate: full body, creamy, lively carbonation, long finish,
Delicious
Dark brown pour. Toffee and raisin aroma. Dark fruit and booze taste. Hints of oak in there as well. Really good
Purchased at LCBO in 750ml bottle for about $10. Nice beer. Fantastic for the Belgian style of beer. Can easily not notice it’s as strong as 10% ABV.
Bottled at Clubhouse BFD event. Pours dark, tan head. Aroma is Belgian spice, esters, cinnamon, nutmeg, raisin, fig, plum, sweet. Flavor is raisin, plum, fig. Sweet dark fruit. Very sweet.
Dark brown pour, finger of tan head. Nose is dark malt and spice. Bittersweet. Middle is coco, currants, nutmeg, charged malt. Finish is warm and bittersweet.
750ml bottle from LCBO. 10% alc/vol. Pours an opaque deep brown colour with two fingers of lasting head. Aromas of toffee, raisins, prunes and a whiff of cinnamon. Taste matches the aroma with notes of oak and has a well balanced hoppy finish. Medium bodied with moderate carbonation. Excellent Belgian strong ale. It reminds me of belgian quads.
2016. Smells malty, bready, a bit of caramel. Has some maple taste, some sweetness, slight alcohol character, very full body, good beer!
2011 vintage, a few days prior to 5 yr best before window, pours a dark brow n with 1 finger creamy tan head, slight carbonation but mostly clings to side, nose is so reminiscent of a recent fig ginger spread recently tried,getting some wood presence from the oak, mouthfeel is oh so smooth, unbelievably soft, easy to drink, but has dark fruit, sour plum n raisin, alcohol is smooth as can be, could pass for a mashup btwn a Barleywine and Belgian dubbel, quite impressed how this tastes after 5 years, very nice all around..
Sweet fig, plum, and raisin aromas and flavors. Dark brownish-purple color with a creamy white head of foam. Oak influences come into play on the finish with a bit of a barleywine character. Hides the 10% easily.
BB backlog, Bottle, Pours reddish brown with a medium off white head. Smell and flavor of prunes, orange, belgian yeast, oak, and light licorice. Medium to fuller mouthfeel with tons of warming quality in the chest. I liked this one more than other Unibroue anniversaries.
2015 Vintage (Cellared 1 year). Smells very sugary and fruity. Pours a dark gold brown (much darker then I was expecting with this style). Head lasts to the last drop. Taste is like it smells, fruity and sweet. You can tell it has an elevated alcohol content, but not what was advertised. Very sweet on the tongue. Sweet aftertaste. Some booziness. Overall I was very happy. I buy year after year. I will let you know how it tastes in 10 years. MB The Beer Bear-on
Bouteille datée du 08/12/2014, bue après un peu plus de 22 mois. Robe acajou claire surmontée d’un col de mousse blanchâtre et assez laiteux. Mince dentelle collante. Arômes de pommes, levures belges et fraises (peut-être un début de madérisation). Il y a également de la vanille, jus de mûres, herbes fraîches, bois gorgé de liqueur sucrée, caramel. Arrière-plan de miel léger, figues et poire. En bouche, confits de baies, figues et raisins bleus. Toujours ces saveurs de pomme et autres fruits du verger. Suivent ensuite de la vanille, alcool sucré, bois. Une forte enveloppe maltée et bourrée de levures belges rapellant les brunes trappistes accompagne le tout. La finale laisse dégager de légères épices typiques des bières d’Unibroue qui sont franchement bien intégrées aux saveurs. Le haut taux d’alcool ne paraît aucunement. Je trouve la texture en bouche superbe. C’est à la fois lisse et soyeux. Et accompagnée d’un corps rond et équilibré, c’est une bière qui se boit trop bien.
I’m not a big fan of the style, but when this 2013 bottle showed up on the local liquor store clearance shelf for $3.99 (what are they thinking?), I had to try it. Highly carbonated, the cork popped of with barely a nudge. The heavy carbonation gives it a lighter palate than I was expecting. Lots of dark fruit, spice, the oak comes through near the end. ABV is completely non-apparent, though there it is invoking some face-warming. I’m enjoying it.
750 ml bottle dated December 2010. The aroma is clove, raisin. Pours a ruby brown with big light brown head, fully diminishing. The taste is sweet/sour then bitter. The body is medium, the texture thin, the carbonation a little fizzy and the finish long. I’ve had this before and loved it, maybe aged too long.
From a corked bottle into a 2016 New Belgium stem glass. Pours brown with significant head and lace. Aroma of anise cookies, dark malt, orange zest. Significant carbonation and mouthfeel. Flavors of rich malts, watermelon rind, vanilla, minerals, oak, licorice, kumquat zest, funky yeast esters. Overall big, complex, unique, tasty yet challenging.
appearance: dark clear maroon, short creamy light tan head. aroma: complex, with treacle, raisin, candi sugar, burnt caramel, cherries in dark syrup, some chocolate, a hint of port wine. taste: sweet and boozy; there’s a ton here--candi sugar, caramel, chocolate, stone fruit, cherry pipe tobacco, leather, a hint of coffee, vanilla, and bourbon. finish: slightly numbing, with a pleasant and slowly building alcohol warmth; lingering sweetness and some phenolic yeasty notes. notes: What a beer. Huge and complex, alcohol well-hidden for 10%, lots of complimentary flavors, some of which are not common to the style. 2011 vintage, aged 5 years, shared with Zoltan.
December 2010 bottling rated May 2016. Malty alcoholic nose, hints of citrus and smoke and phenolic sourness. Medium sweet taste with a backbone of bitterness and a hint of sourness. Medium bodied, pleasant sour-bitter aftertaste. Wonderful strong ale, The faint smokiness and sourness makes it different from many of the other figgy-raisin strong ales.
Bottle share. Pours a hazy brown color with a sudsy off-white head. Aroma of oak, dark fruit, vanilla, toffee. Flavor followed the nose pretty perfectly. Full bodied, creamy texture, softly carbed, and a warming finish.
Big bottle from Haskells with commonmac as last beer of the opening weekend of March madness. 2014 bottle. Hazy plum with silky foamy pretty head. Belgian yeast and slightly tart nose. Very little alcohol aroma, maybe some raisin. Yeast funk, dark fruit, maybe a little light chocolate , sugar . A Belgian tasting strong ale. perfect mouthfeel with a tiny bit of bite and burn. Finish is comfortable and slightly warming. This is amazing. Makes me feel good.
750 ml bottle acquired at a Haskells in Mpls. 2014 edition according to the bottle. Consumed to celebrate the finale of the first weekend of March Madness with commonshawn. Moeder Lambic glasses serving as consumption vessels. Attractive copper/amber color with a silky off white head that is consistently present during consumption. Aroma features plum, raisin, brown sugar, and maybe a little caramel. Taste is very complex. Dark fruits - raisin and plum definitely come through. A strong rush of sugary malts as the sip progresses. Alcohol presence felt bringing with it a bourbon-like mouthfeel and warmth. The finish is very unique...almost a toasted marshmallow quality and a tingling mouthfeel that lingers during the aftertaste. Saved this bottle for almost 6 months after purchase and well worth the wait. I’ll begin my search for another bottle as soon as I push "Add My Rating".
It’s a muddy, murky brown pour with an off white, foamy head reminiscent of the one that Rochefort 10 produces. Aromas are complex with everything from raisins to mint entering the mix. On the tongue, there are figs, dates, raisins,and a smidgen of booziness. Some vanilla on the swallow too.
Overall, this is a very complex beer, best sipped (and not just because of the high ABV) to get the full enjoyment out of, especially considering how it morphs and evolves as ambient room temperature effects it. This is a truly outstanding brew out of Canada and one very well worth your effort to track down.
Bottle/Fest.
A- Stone fruit, honey, complex.
A- Brown color, cloudy liquid, off white head.
T- BBQ sauce, fruity.
P- Medium body, average texture, average carbonation, complex finish.
O- This had a ton of flavors going on and they balanced so well I struggled to tell them apart, but boy did they blend well. I got a weird bbq sauce taste that was actually quite welcoming.
2011 vintage. Copper pour, fairly large head. Fruit up front in aroma and taste, raisin, plus, prune, dates, oak, brown sugar. Fairly high carbonation.
2016/02/11 - Pours a hazy brown-amber colour with a frothy, khaki head that lingers and moderate lacing. Aroma is dried dark fruit (raisin, figs, plumbs,etc...), oaky vanilla, toffee, honey, doughy yeast and light tobacco. Taste is more oak and vanilla, honey, yeasty dough, dried figs/raisins an light booze. Mouthfeel medium and silky with smooth carbonation and spicy, drying, mildly warming finish. Really nice.
Thick cloudy copper color with a pink hue and powerful carbonation activity. Extra foamy, delicate, beige 3 finger sparkly head, creating a foam island and lasting around 12 minutes, with some strong legs.
Aromas and flavors of dark fruits, citrus, caramel, honey or maple, floral and herbal spices. Well intensified, delicious rich super fruity taste, slightly vinous but in a soft sweet way, with hints of orange/lemony/coriander/apple slightly bitter feel and a pleasant earthy oak sensation.
Slick, almost creamy, full body with some perfect carbonation. Balanced finish ending with a slightly bitter and dry, thick dark berries mouth coat and perfectly spiced aftertaste.
Overall : The perfect craft; sexy lovely look, warming, awesome freshness, complex delicious flavors, inviting smell, accessible...what else do you want?
Cloudy chestnut colored pour with a substantial khaki head. Aroma is fig, coffee, vanilla, plum, a bit of booze, and dark cherries. Tastes of dried dark cherries, prunes, mild chocolate, figs, and a little bit of alcohol. Tobacco and oak add depth. Medium body with fair carbonation. Quite earthy with a slight bitterness to balance out the dark malts. The aroma is even superior to the taste.
Deep walnut pour with a large frothy tan head and lace. Fruity, tangy malt aroma. Nice spice malt flavour. Peppery finish. Tasty brew.
Poured from a 2011 750ml bottle in January 2016.
Murky, rusty brown with a khaki head and very good lacing.
Aroma of dark fruit, chestnuts, toffee and oak.
Taste of toffee, dark fruit, spices, yeast, oak and molasses.
Medium body medium/high carbonization with a creamy mouthfeel.
Thanks to my cousin Jeff for bringing to my place for patriots playoff game. Amber pour nose of dark fruit and oak. Tastes of oak, plums, fig, raisins, tobacco, s e spice, yeast, and booze. Fine medium body light warming. Chocolate finish.