P'tite Maudite
Unibroue

Appearance: Poured with two fingers of head that sadly did not stack around but did make some minor lacing. The body is a near opaque dark orange, of which only the shadows of your fingers can be seen through it.

Smell: Caramel malt with maybe a bit of non-descript soft fruit, cherry and notes of pepper and cloves. It seems to turn spicier as it warms up but the potency is good regardless of it being cold or warm.

Taste: Restrained Caramel and bready malt that turns to a light pepper finish with slight hints of clove. It's leaving me wondering where the heck did those fruit notes go? I mean, for 4% it's interesting for a lighter beer, but it's missing a huge piece that was promised on the nose.

Mouthfeel: Carbonation is good and makes for a soft and sudsy experience, and the transitioning is ok, but again it feels like it is missing something. It ends with a pepper note that mildly moves into the aftertaste as has a seltzer light quality. Again, it feels like it's missing a core piece.

Drinkabilty: Incredibly light and easy to drink, both in body and it ABV but with enough notes to be interesting. Again though, where's my missing fruit/yeast note?

Final Thoughts: I don't think this beer should have shared the branding of Maudite. This is a product of it's own accord, not a lighter version of Maudite, and it can't hold a candle to that brew. Given how clear this presents itself as a light beer, not a 5%ish beer as I would expect from a beer called P'tite Maudite I am inclined to give it leeway on that front. This beer is a solid lighter offering, but given it's availability I'm not sure when I'd drink this apart from maybe if I got sick of lighter English Bitter which I think brings more to the table then this for a low ABV option. It certainly is a strange anomaly. A good and quality one, something Unibroue is known for, but an odd one.

 

 

 

At my lady Pamela's house; canned and chilled, 473mL in a pint glass. From their 2024 Holiday Sampler 4-pack, from the University Ave. West LCBO in nearby downtown Windsor. My fifth beer from the Chambly, Quebec brewery, and third for 2025. With Sundae...

 

 

Some Belgian taste, lead by yeast. It's quaffable but not very much so. Cutting down on an intense Belgian beer to make it more boring doesn't always work, and didn't.

 

Pours bright copper orange with a giant, pillowy head. The aroma is of raisin bread and mixed spices. The taste is malty with caramel notes mixing with nutmeg and all spice and a light mineral character. Hop character is restrained. The mouthfeel is full bodied with velvety carbonation. Light malty and herbal finish.

This is a fantastic light belgian brown ale with lots of malt complexity and a big body. Worth a try.

 

Part of the Unibroue mixed pack. 473ml can served cold into a chalice.

Appearance - Dark brown with some reddish hues. Delicate finger of off-white head and great hang time.

Smell - Light and yeasty with some bread and a trace brown sugar accompanying the bread notes.

Taste - Similar to the nose, again bready, yeasty with a little bit of sugar hiding in the background. Mild a toned down version of some of Unibroue's great lineup of Dark Belgians.

Mouthfeel - Crisp and very well carbonated, nearing gassy levels and lively body. Dry finish.

Overall - A very fine toned down dark Belgian that while not as great as others in the lineup is more repeatable.

 

355 mL can from TBS, included in a Unibroue mixed twelve-pack. Coded Jun 26 2024 and served barely chilled.

Pours a foggy copper-amber colour, its complexion clouded up with sediment; rising from the surface is about an inch of soapy, foamy white head. It fades within three or four minutes, worn down to a creamy collar and thin cap, with a ring of lace clinging to the perimeter of the glass. Its malty, yeasty aroma offers up hints of caramelized sugars, grainy barley malts, apples, figs, peppery spice and clove.

Tasty, but clearly lacking the depth and intensity of its elder brother. I'm getting caramelized malts, toasted grains, bruised apple and suggestion of dark fruits, e.g. fig or plum, with spicy, yeasty characteristics taking over on the back end. Finishes with white pepper, clove spice, grassy hops and a hint of green banana, giving way to a spicy aftertaste that trends dry. Light in body, with aggressive carbonation that continuously agitates the tongue; feels a little frothy, but also crisp and slightly palate scrubbing. I could easily drink several of these in a row.

Final Grade: 3.93, a B+. Strictly speaking, I don't think P'tite Maudite is Unibroue's best work - however, it's also only 4%, which is exceedingly low for this style. Given its unusual position as an ultra-light Belgian dark ale, I am to some extent inclined to grade this on a curve. No, it's not really what I'm looking for from a Belgian, and it certainly doesn't compare favourably to the original Maudite... but it really is rather flavourful for its strength. If you enjoy Belgian ales and are looking for one you can drink en masse (while still maintaining your equilibrium), this is as good a starting point as any.

Light and spicy beer, with a caramel malt flavor but lacks of the complexity and strong finish of the Original "Maudite".

 

I love the original Maudite (the best beer pairing I know for cheese, especially pizza) but the 8% abv has gotten tougher on my body as I age. The P’tite is better than just a watered-down version of the original, and probably the best light beer I know. Notes of clove, nice fizz with a pleasingly intense dark look in a chalice.

 

 

Miss on my opinion. I like the reggy maudite. I like probably 90% of the Unibroue offerings. This just isnt hitting. It’s almost like when you get a “belgian ipa” but a session version. Now extrapolate that thin overly fizzy foamy vibe to a belgian ale. Just doesn’t work.