Ale Gâteau Forêt-Noire
Unibroue

 

This taste like a dessert, very popular. Nice balance. Ageing a bit helped, or at least did not hurt.

 

 

 

 

It smells like a sweet fruity bread. So notes of candied cherries and yeasty dough.

It's a dessert beer so it's sweet but it's balanced by the bitterness and alcohol. The description said they were trying to make it taste like black forest cake... they succeeded. It's like a black forest beer.

It's finish is again fruity, doughy and just slightly bitter.

The mouthfeel might be the best part of this particular beer. It's smooth and frothy in a great way with bubbles popping off every part of your tongue.

I'm not much for beers this sweet but it is very well executed and tasty. For what it is I'd give it a 5.1 out of 6.

This beer pours a black color with a white head foam.
The flavor, wow... what can I say!? This beer Is awesome! It’s a little sweet but not too sweet and malty-ish and at over 10% AVB it’s not a “strong” beer. I’m sad I only got a single and not a pack.

 

 

Not feeling this one really. Stored correctly. More like a bottle of cheap wine. Oh well.

Appearance:
An intensely dark burgundy, the color of black cherries. The head is a full finger’s length of foam that’s white blended with a minuscule daub of burnished coral. Moderate retention and lacing.

Feel:
Satin and supple, like one of those extravagant ballroom curtains. Houses a moderate twang of carbonation and finishes with a seductive, cherry tart, linger.

Bouquet & Taste:
A pyrotechnic display of tangy, organic cherries caramelized in Belgian candi sugar. What follows is a demure hint of sweetened spices and a secret whisper of easy-going, fruit brandy.

12 oz bottle, best by Sept. 2023. Purchased in late 2018, so at least I managed to hold onto it for a year and a half...

Pours a deep mahogany brown with a large off-white head that subsides but never goes away. Gorgeous. Not too much lacing, however. Aroma and flavor feature Belgian candi sugar, tart cherries, and a hint of spices, almond, chocolate, and coffee. Complex and delicious. The 10.5% abv is well-hidden. Mouthfeel is superb - creamy, full, and moderately carbonated. Overall a great beer that I will buy again if I have the opportunity.

 

$9.90 from the LCBO. Drank at cellar temperature 11 C.
Cork is dated 2017/07 , so 32 months old.
Very strong taste of sour cherries. Better than when I tried it a year ago

Tasted from a 12 oz bottle.

L - Deep brown color with garnet highlights. Seems clear, but no light comes through when the beer is held up to it. Strong, persistent head is off-white.

S - Delicious aroma of rich chocolate, cherries and brandy-like alcohol.

T - The elements of a Belgian dark strong ale are in there, like bready malt, dried fruits and brown sugar, but they are secondary to chocolate and cherries.

F - Medium body. Carbonation seems to be at a moderate level overall, but it somehow feels prickly and slightly harsh. Moderate hops bitterness keeps the sweetness at bay, with the exception of a slightly sweet finish. Alcohol presence is amazingly low for the ABV.

O - This is a very good Belgian dark strong ale with delicious black forest cake layers. It seems to be exactly what the brewers were going for. Bravo!

12 ounce bottle into a tulip snifter. Bottle best by 9/6/23, had 11/18/18.

Pours near black and opaque, with a two inch creamy head with great retention and lots of creamy lacing. Aromas of Belgian yeast, spices, wheat, light malt, some cola and chocolate, cherries as warms, light smoke and a shot of banana at the open, that fades. Flavors of malt, Belgian yeast, more chocolate than the nose, wheat, spices, cherries as warms, light cola, faint vanilla. Very smooth and creamy, a very good light to medium body, well carbonated.

This is a really well done BSDA, without any additions. The cherry juice does add to the flavor, less so the aroma. Very enjoyable. Looking forward to aging a few bottles.

Poured from corked & caged 750mL bottle into a tulip. Looks like I missed the boat when this first came out, but I found a bottle recently so here goes! Best by 9/7/23.

Appearance: rich, extremely dark brown with dark red highlights around the edges when held up to the light. Head is three fingers of compact tan foam with just a hint of pink. I think it's beautiful.

Smell: I am a huge fan of cherry beers, and this one smells just amazing. Rich, sweet malt with lots of toffee and caramel character; hints of chocolate; and, of course, that big, beautiful cherry aroma. Wonderful.

Taste: that cherry is just so wonderful paired with the toffee darkness of the malt. It's right up my alley with regards to flavor profile, and very well-executed indeed.

Mouthfeel: medium-light body with a big carbonation and very creamy mouthfeel.

Overall: I really love this beer. I feel lucky to have encountered it at random, in a grocery store beer fridge of all places.

Got a 4 pack 6+ months back. The first bottle I tried tasted like the on Lees in bottle fermentation was incomplete. I cellared the rest and waited. Glad I did. The older bottle was much smoother.

Pours a dark brown with an enormous long lasting tan head.

Strong smell and taste of cherries and little else. The 10.5% alcohol level hides sneakily well. Very light body for this type of strong ale.

Too bad this ale is now retired!

From the 12 fl. oz. bottle with a best by date of 09-06-23. Sampled on Jan 1, 2020.

Gorgeous looking dark brown pour underneath a lacing-leaving off-white almost tan head. I expected reddish hues but that was not to be.

The aroma emits black cherries, maybe black current, and a roasted dark bread sweetness. I do not pick up any booze.

Full mouthfeel. Smooth.

A light cherry tartness in the taste but it is not as evident as I pick up on the nose. Otherwise roasted with a wine-like semi-dry finale.

 

 

Decanted from a 12 oz (355 ml) bottle into a custom taster pint; best by 09/06/23.
A: Pours a dark brown with explosive head formation (easily four fingers), a 3 to 4 finger, foamy, wheat colored head, more than a finger of long term retention, and sticky rings of lacing.
S: Tangy on the tart side. Aromas of lactate, molasses, and cherry.
T: Semisweet. Flavors follow the nose, but also white pepper, licorice, and pig iron. Light bitterness.
M: Medium bodied with strong carbonation.
O: A delicious, fruity, Belgian Strong Dark Ale. Just a magnificent blend of beer and fruit.

Outstanding beer. All ingredients well balanced, a sweet aftertaste of cherries; but not overpowering. I can drink more of this. And remember folks drink more beer and support your local brewery. HOG

 

Cherry bomb done right. Dessert type beer with balanced chocolate and cherry flavor.

Pours a five+ finger light tan head that fades slowly leaving a good lace. Black color no highlights. Good carbonation and medium-heavy bodied. Nose is chocolate and cherry, flavor is baked chocolate with tart cherry in the background. Higher ABV 10.5%, is hidden. $3.47 for a 12oz bottle from Colonial Spirits Acton, Ma.

 

 

A-Pours a dark color with a very generous head and lacing
A-Aroma has nice fruity and spice hints
T-Taste follows the nose with a fruity and spice flavor
M-A medium bodied decently carbonated beer
O-A good Belgian Strong Dark Ale

 

 

 

Very dark with a reddish hue. Ample amounts of foam. Smells of dark fruits and cherry - Belgian yeast is very apparent. Nice bite of alcohol upfront. Rich and cherry flavor is not subdued. Starts sweet but dries out significantly. Some yeasty metallic flavors that are characteristic of darker Belgians. Very good beer and would buy again. Great price at $10 for 750ml.

12oz bottle bb 09-06-23 poured into a tulip glass at just above fridge temp 10.5% ABV. The beer pours very dark dense brown with mahogany highlights and abundant khaki head. The head recedes slowly to a cap leaving some lacing. The aroma is minimal with dark fruit and spicy yeast. The taste is tart cherry and semisweet malt with notes of licorice, dark fruit, peppery yeast and slight alcohol. The slight tartness and spice serve as counterpoint to the malt, requiring no real bitterness. The mouthfeel is medium to full bodied with above average carbonation and a dry finish. Overall, excellent. Really complex and inviting beer. I wish I would have purchased more.

 

 

A 25th Anniversary Ale that Unibroue can make again and again.
Looks luscious. Smells of dark malts and cherries. Tastes like that Unibroue yeast is working overtime, turning malt into dark tree fruits and chocolate... which reminds me of cake. In the mouth, there initially is too much carbonation (as I've found in Unibroue's other BSDAs). But when I came back to the Gateau in 45 minutes for dessert, it was just finely soft. A splendid transition.

I went on Unibroue's website and they do a good job of pairing with foods. While I didn't have chocolate cake at home, I did have a chocolate bar and that was good enough to complete the meal. It seems I've had almost all their brews that get distributed to the Midwest. But even those that I repeat, I will do proper research and try to use their pairings and report back. For Unibroue's attention to pairing detail and the general enjoyment I get from their brews, I give them big OA hugs.