750 mL Corked & Caged bottle with the usual Unibroue, silk screened presentation. $8.49 from Bullocks, Marietta, GA, USA. Had a bit of a job to track this down.
Big pop on opening, it’s poured into the Ommegang chalice. Dirty brown, Dubbel like color (not attractive) with a high head that is dense, creamy and off-white (this IS attractive). Nice lace.
Big, herbal nose with some interesting notes of freshly cut green leaves – quite odd! Mint? Very, very, very mild smoke??
Large alcohol presence, but this is VERY smooth. Dark fruits abound, but there is a big white pepper entity in there too. Also a certain red wine, tannin dryness as well; it comes together very nicely. Complex to the point of having some Quad like character. As it warms there is more licorice.
As far as the drinkability goes, the alcohol IS there but it doesn’t seem to manifest itself in an aggressive way. Drinks as a “big” beer, but at the same time below the 10.00%.
Very creamy in the mouth.
I detect a slight movement away from the typical Unibroue Big Belgian to a more distinctive, almost unique beer. They do a nice job here and it is unusual but successful.