| If, in the lexicon of today’s youth, "bad" means good, Unibroue’s latest beer is very, very bad. Indeed, one might even say it’s… Terrible.
Unibroue (www.unibroue.com/english.cfm), based in Chambly, Quebec, is included on the Beverage Testing Institute’s (www.tastings.com) list of the 10 best breweries in the world. Apparently unsatisfied with sharing this distinction with nine other breweries, Unibroue has thrown down the gauntlet, releasing a new "deluxe premium" line of beers, even better than its standard lineup that has won countless accolades to date. These new offerings consist of Terrible, an abbey-style dubbel, and Fringante, an abbey-style tripel. (Fringante is not currently available in Alberta.)
Dubbels and tripels have monastic origins. The brewing monks marked the various casks of their beer to indicate their relative strength, with stronger brews being marked with more symbols. The brews range from singles (which are never made available to monks who grow hair, speak and have sex) to quadruples. The designations refer to the number of marks on the cask, and not the beers’ proportional differences in alcoholic strength. Thus, while a quadruple is stronger than a dubbel, it is not doubly so.
Terrible is the first dubbel ever released by Unibroue, and if Unibroue’s reputation were not reason enough to try the beer, its opaque black bottle with silver silk-screened label screams "try me" from the shelf. Coming in a 750 ml champagne-corked bottle and having a whopping 10.5 per cent alcohol by volume (abv), the beer is meant for sharing (though I admittedly did not share my bottle). While Terrible is stronger than most recognized beer guidelines allow for an abbey-style dubbel – beers of this style are typically restricted to about eight per cent abv – for those who can forgive this slight derivation, this truly is a remarkable brew.
A beer of this style is best served in a large snifter-shaped glass at a temperature in the neighbourhood of 12 C. The shape of the glass will direct the malty sweetness to the tip of your tongue while the warmer temperature will leave your taste buds firing at full throttle and able to pick up all of the subtle nuances of the flavour.
Not surprisingly, given its high alcohol content, this beer has little head left after it is poured (alcohol inhibits head development and retention). The beer itself is dark brown and features golden highlights when held up to the light. In a bulbous glass like a snifter, the beer will appear opaque black.
The nose is surprisingly gentle for a beer of this strength, though it is interestingly sweet with a nice prune fruitiness and a very subtle hint of molasses. The flavour is rich and full-bodied. It is immediately sweet and, like its nose, has a significant presence of prunes. A clean alcoholic flavour eventually emerges, accompanied by a slight warming effect, while a very subtle charcoal smoke note acts as an accent.
The elegant appearance of the bottle, coupled with the beer’s robust flavours, makes Terrible appropriate for enjoyment with a meal. Try it with a red meat dish, particularly something grilled or smoky. A rich, berry-based sauce would be perfect.
But grab Terrible while you can. The distributor of the product has decided to carry a core line of only four of Unibroue’s products (Blanche de Chambly, La Fin du Monde, Maudite and Trois Pistoles) and rotate Unibroue’s other products in and out of the province on a seasonal basis. (We should hope and pray that Fringante will be here soon, because it is easily the best beer in Unibroue’s 12-year history.) So, while Terrible is currently available in Calgary’s finer liquor stores, it won’t be for long.
And that is Terrible. |
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