There used to be a time when my wife and I used to celebrate birthdays and other annual occasions with a nice bottle of Gouden Carolus Carolus D’Or - Grand Cru Of The Emperor. But something odd began to occur shortly after our daughter’s birth a couple of years ago.
My wife, who used to love Belgian beers with a passion, started to get horrible hangovers after just half a glass of the tasty stuff. Thus, ended our informal tradition of celebrating any event with the D’or.
So instead of getting into more detail about that specific beer, I decided to crack open an alternative that’s been in the basement for a little while.
I’m a big fan of just about anything coming out of the magical vats of Unibroue. Several of there brews have found their way into my belly on numerous occasions, but there had always been one that eluded me.
The Unibroue anniversary series named for the year they are celebrating (in my case Unibroue 16) was one beer that I had always been on the look out for, but could never find it. The one bottle I did find was on a trip to visit a friend in Richmond a few months back. Since it was a such a worthy adversary in my quests, I figured it would be more than appropriate for The Session.
Appearance
The 16 pours a reddish amber in color with active carbonation. The large, slightly off-white head faded very slowly and left a clingy lacing along the glass.
Aroma
This one smells quite interesting. There are some light hops, green apple with some spices in the background. A definite alcohol presences is also in the nose that let’s you know it means a little bit of business.
Taste
The green apples, especially their tartness, are there right from the first swallow. It’s not an overpowering tartness, but works well with the candy sweetness that is there. The active carbonation does a great job of moving flavors around the mouth and makes for a refreshing brew. The sugars in the 16 leave a nice stickiness on the lips.
Overall
I couldn’t have picked a better brew for The Session. It’s intriguing balance for flavors will leave you wanting the bottle to never end. I’d love to see how this one turns out after a few more years under it’s belt. Too bad that was my only bottle. Dang.
Rating: 4/5
Alright then. For those participating this this month’s Session, feel free to leave a link in the comments or send me an email.
Update We’ve still got a few hours to go. Can’t wait to start reading all of the Session posts. I’ll hopefully have the recap up before the end of the weekend.
August 1st, 2008
Jasmine said:
Thanks for hosting! Our Session video is up now at http://www.beeratjoes.com/?p=83