Trader Joe's Providential Golden Ale
Trader Joe's Brewing Company

Straw yellow in color with a hazy complexion. There’s a fingernail of dishwater white around three quarters of the rim and covering three quarters of the top. I smell sweet pale Belgian malt and lightly tart and fruity Belgian yeast. I’m tasting sweet, pale Belgian malt and green grapes. There’s a light green apple tartness at the finish. The mouth is heavily carbonated and reminiscent of champagne.

 

 

Poured from a 750 ML, corked bottle into a glass goblet. Bottle stated a beat by date of 11-14-19. Taken from my cellar and chilled in the refrigerator door for about a half-hour. Seemed to be just below room temp. Not very cold.

Great presentation with a head present throughout. Good, soft and silky mothfeel. Expected more from the taste, however. Very straight forward banana peel and clove spice but didn’t linger for very long. Not much complexity. Smell was the same. Aging the beer didn’t seem to help.

 

 

750mL corked bottle BB 11-14-19 poured into a Duvel glass at fridge temp 7.5% ABV. The beer pours slightly hazy in an orange amber color with yellow highlights and nearly white head. The head is prolific filling two thirds of the glass on a gentle pour. It recedes slowly to a quarter inch cap and leaves plenty of lacing. The aroma is yeasty and spicy with a hint of malt sweetness. The taste is semisweet pale malt with abundant white pepper and clove before a mildly bitter finish. The mouthfeel is medium bodied with well above average carbonation and a bone dry finish. Overall, very good BSPA at a crazy low price.

 

 

 

 

 

Got a bottle of this when my wife and I went to Trader Joes a few weeks ago. Poured into one of my tulip glasses, this beer pours a somewhat cloudy, hazy medium golden color (I think I kicked up the yeast sediment at the bottom of the bottle before pouring it) with a nice, fluffy white head that's about an inch thick when first poured. ASettles eventually to a thick ring lining the inside of the glass, some big cluster swirls of surface film layers of foam, and good lacing. Aromas of some bready malt and caramel ssweetness along with some fruity esters and spice notes. The taste is pretty mucht the same, with some bready caramel malt sweetness with some fruity notes of bananas and figs along with some spice notes. Not really a discernible hops presence. Has a fairly crisp, also smooth, mdium bodied mouthfeel with moderate carbonation. Easty to drik in the way good, well crafted beer outh to be. Has a clean finish.

Eric

 

Look: Hazy, light yellow. Sudsy two-finger head that stays well put. I do with it was more golden and less "dirty water."

Smell: Spices, banana ester, citrus peel, and a little bit of hop scent.

Taste: Gentle, sweet, and warming. Same spices and citrus in the nose. A little bit of pepper and clove noticeable. Not really any bitterness.

Mouthfeel: A little thicker than average, with very high carbonation.

Overall: A very fine example of what you can accomplish on a budget. I'd be perfectly happy to buy this again despite coming from the same place as Two-Buck Chuck.

 

 

 

750ml bottle, plastic hotel cup, best by 11/14/19.

A tower of meringue builds over a perfectly golden yellow, moderately hazed body. The clouds recede to a creamy and coating one finger or less.

Bananas, pepper, herbal, moderately sweet, and sweet white bread

Clove, yeasty bread, banana, orange peel, and a peppery bite. Substantial yeast on the tongue that settles as an herbal, cough drop flavor. The finish drys, but ends with a mild cinnamon or spiced sugar sweetness.

This is no lightweight, it's a husky size, but being clothed in curtains of bubbles make it a nimble portly beer.

Every once in awhile I enjoy a Belgian Pale Ale, one of my favorite Belgian styles. This one is beautiful and gives the best of the style other than the hopping sometimes found.

 

L: Poured from a bottle to a snifter glass. Had a golden yellow color and a cloudy texture. There was an 1 1/2", creamy, very long-lasting head. Excellent lacing.

S: A nice aroma of citrus, Belgian yeast, spices, and malt.

T: Tasted of a moderate amount of Belgian-style yeast, mild spices (pepper, in particular), light malt, a bubblegum quality, a hint of ginger, citrus (lemon), and a light hops presence. A vibrant, sweet, and very well done flavor. The bubblegum quality (not unlike in a hefeweizen) makes for a welcome and interesting addition.

F: A well-carbonated beer with an effervescent finish. Medium-bodied.

O: This is a solidly made, easy to drink beer. An oddly drinkable beer.

 

 

 

Cage and cork bottle with a best buy date of 01-30-19 stamped on the shoulder of the bottle
Appearance: Hazy and opaque golden colored body with a thick and pillowy head that rests on the top like gentle sea foam on the beach.

Aroma: Lemon, coriander, and fresh cut ginger root. Belgian yeast spiciness is quite prevalent as well.

Taste/Mouthfeel: Soft mouthfeel with a nice spiciness and some ripe banana. Ginger and citrus are main flavors ending with a dry-bready malt.

Overall: A beautiful looking beer with a beautiful aroma and full of that Unibroue Belgian yeastiness you would expect. Would definitely purchase this one again and especially for the price, I think it was $5.99.

 

Behold, the Trader Joe's beer. Extra points for surprise when I found out it's brewed my Unibroue, one of my favorites. Pours beautifully from a super-thick glass bottle. This is meant as a reproduction of a classic Belgian Golden Ale. Beautiful blonde and cloudy color, typical of the style. Thin, everlasting foam on top. Strong smell of flowers, fruit and spices. More fruit and spices in the taste with a robust, ass-kicking backbone of malts. A little bit of hop character, alcohol, tart, and savory yeast in the background for balance. Refined champagne-like feel, but with more body.

Now, this is certainly not Unibroue's top of the line beer, but it is a very fine brew indeed. For the price, probably the best $5.99 I have ever spent.

 

 

I saw this a Trader Joe's the last few times I was there and I decided to take a chance. For $5 I figured it was worth a shot (I've been less than impressed with several of their beers). As I was getting ready to pour it I realized it was made by Unibroue!

L - poured from the bottle into a tulip glass. Pours a cloudy golden yellow with a one finger white fluffy head.

S - pepper, citrus peel, pilsner malt.

T - sweet malt, pepper, citrus, powdery yeast. It tastes sweeter as it warms and the carbonation dies down. I also detect a little clove as it warms up.

M - very carbonated, medium-full body, smooth soft finish despite the high level of carbonation.

O - this is a really good beer, especially for the money. It's a little one dimensional and lacks some of the complexity you might get from a more expensive beer, but that doesn't mean this doesn't fit the bill. If I had to choose between a $10 beer that had a little more yeast or malt character and this for $5, I'd buy this all day long. It's the difference between an A+ beer and an A- beer; it's that close. I'll be sure to keep this in my lineup. I love Unibroue beers and this doesn't disappoint, especially for the money.

 

 

 

 

I drove to my local Trader Joe's and bought myself a 750ml bottle based primarily on reviews I read here at Beer Advocate. I have to say that I agree - this beer seems to have everything I love about Belgian strong pale ales. It tasted great! I'll be making the trip back to pick up a few more. I didn't realize until I uncorked it... TJ's is Unibroue.

 

 

 

Poured from corked and caged 750 ml brown bottle into a Chimay chalice. BB 08-18-18 on bottle neck.

A: Hazy golden with 2-finger frothy white head with good retention and solid stripe of lacing around the top of the glass.

S: Bready Pilsner malt aromas cut quickly by numerous spicy yeast aromas including clove, pepper, ginger and orange peel. Some pear fruity esters. Hopping is mainly herbal in character.

T: Similar bready and slightly sweet Pilsner malty flavor throughout the palate but fading to pepper, bitter orange, clove, pear, apple skin, bubble gum, and some ginger. Hops are herbal.
Alcohol comes through in the finish with a little more solventy and metallic than it should be.

M: Exceptional pillowy feel with medium body, high carbonation.

O: Huge pleasant surprise - will be picking up a couple more of these to cellar. Great feel and flavor - a little better alcohol mgmt and this would be a stellar Belgian ale.

As my local Trader Joe's was lacking any Fins du Monde (c'est la pluralization, n'est ce pas?), I picked up this one as a random grab. This cost me $6, possibly $5. I should check the receipt. By the way, these guys are charging $7.50 for Fin du Monde, which is hard to beat.

Quick, massive head. Fluffy and looks decent, but dissipates quickly. I made an effort to make sure the glass was clean and had no surfactants, but the head fades too rapidly to a thin film that is sadly unappetizing. The beer itself looks great with foam on it, and ... out of place without it? Hazy, golden, on the paler side. Oddly, lacks much variation with path length (Beer-Lambert Law, look it up, aptly named I think).

Spicy aroma (black pepper?) but in general I'm terrible at identifying anything beyond banana and bubblegum. There's definitely a little of each in it, but more to it as well. Doesn't leap out of the glass.

Classic Belgian taste. Just like the aroma too. No surprises, which I suppose is a little disappointing. The bitterness is subdued and mellow, which meshes perfectly with the clear fruity sweetness present in the beer. As it warms it changes. Unpleasantly metallic for a second, then the balance of the hops shows through as the sweetness fades. For the bargain barrel price this is a massive home run. If I could make one this good for this price, I'd be elated, and I'd be a nonprofit brewer.

Great body. Ideal carbonation, which adds to the spiciness and offsets and of the more cloying aspects that sometimes crop up in Belgian-style beers. The only knock is a slight wateriness that makes me want to drink it too quickly. These beers should be more like a meal, as least by my philosophy.

For the price, this is nigh unbeatable. Imagine getting something basically as good as Chimay for around 2/5 the price. Sure it misses the subtleties but .... are you gonna pay more than double for only subtlety?

What "is" this beer? More than anything: Belgian. And excellent.