Ale on Less
Unibroue, Chambly, Quebec, Canada
750 mL corked bottle
10.5 percent Alcohol by Volume
Bottled: March 4, 2004
Sampled: March 25, 2007
As the sediment in the bottle attests, this ale sat for three years before I uncorked it on a placid Sunday. Edition 2004's body is coppery red with a thin foamy halo and innumerable flecks of yeast leftovers floating through it.
It was hardly worse for the aging.
The nose give away both an intense fruitiness and high alcohol content. The beer tastes tart, with a slight roasted feel; though not a typical pair, they dovetail nicely. The roasted flavor evolves into a slight, welcome smokiness in the finish.
Cellared beers follow wildly disparate paths, and not having sampled a younger bottle of Edition 2004, I can't compare youth and maturity.
But the overall fruitiness is intense here. It rises to a quick, effervescent crescendo in the finish, which also has notes of grain and the yeast (after 3 years on the shelf, it's inescapable).
Tastes include lemon, apple and some spiciness. You cannot avoid the sediment, but it shies away from the flavors rolling through every sip.
Edition 2004 seems to throw everything it can at the Unibroue drinker, albeit in an orderly, complementary fashion. The finish's incredible facets really round this ale out.
It's well worth the wait - what you should not do if you spy it still sitting on the beer store shelf. Three years is a world of change for a beer, and the yeast's work in the bottle pushed Edition 2004 to high regard.
Rating: 9/10
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