Is Unibroue done?

sounds to me like a cork issue. Damn shame that all that work and effort can be undone by a faulty cork.

 

In Vancouver Unibroue is usually the best value for a Belgian style beer . We get the mixed 12 packs in capped bottles and of course the corked and caged . Never had a bad beer in over 14 years of drinking them but then the stock rotation is much higher here than in many parts of the US.

 

I wish they would do a total redesign of their beers. It's difficult to figure out what type of beer some of them are. And I've never liked the artwork. I've grown tired of Belgium beers over the years... But I always loved La Fin Du monde. And Quelque Chose is awesome served hot while winter camping. I like the Ephemere too... I didn't realize there was more than just apple... I'd like to try the cherry.

 

I'm thinking it's more a re-design of expectations. Unibroue doesn't specifically brew to a style, it's their interpretation of such, and sometimes not even to a style. They brew what they like, sometimes it conforms to a given styles, sometimes not.
They've been pretty successful for a long time now, why should they all of a sudden change everything they do?

 

Did you buy them from the same store. Because from the layer of dust on the Unibroue products at stores in my area who knows how old they are. I think I'm the only one that drinks it.

 

I'm all for not brewing to style... But at least give us an idea of what the beer is going to taste like... I just don't remember their descriptions to be good. But maybe they have changed it up since I last looks a few years ago.

Here is an example
http://audilab.bmed.mcgill.ca/~funnell/beer/unibroue_maudite.jpg

It tells me it's a "strong beer on lees" which I don't really know what that means. (had to look it up, basically it means bottle conditioned) And the side of the box tells me it's "smooth" and has a "warm mellowing effect"

As for a re-design... lots of breweries change it up every few years... New Belgium is crazy successful yet they recently did a pretty drastic re-design.
http://www.underconsideration.com/b..._new_belgium_by_hatch_design.php#.U1EiffldXE4

 

I think Unibroue beers are great. Unfortunately, I've had allergic reactions to every one I've tried - swollen, itchy gums, tongue, throat. Not sure what causes it and why it doesn't happen with any other brand of beer.

 

I have a very long story that directly relates to the thread starter.
In fact I joined the forum specifically to respond to this thread.

I have been drinking Unibroue beers for well over 10 years and was a very vocal fan and promoter of their products.
I found just about all of their product line to be excellent but Fin du Monde was my daily go-to beer (if available).
All discussed beers refer to the 750 ml cage and cork variety.

Unibroue in Quebec was purchased by Sleemans who were then purchased in turn by Sapporo.
In the US Trader Joe’s top shelf “house beer” is rebadged Unibroue (Maudite is my guess).

Fin du Monde used to be a fairly difficult beer to obtain in Western Canada but around 6 or 7 years ago Unibroue began to seriously ramp up distribution and sales.
Now, of course, it is everywhere.
Over two years ago I noticed that Fin du Monde carbonation levels and flavor profiles were starting to swing wildly from bottle to bottle.
A huge billowing head from one bottle followed by a lightly carbonated almost barley wine like carbonation in the next.
And the flavors changed as well from a fresh, crisp Saison or Triple like beer to a duller, flatter more vinous beer.

In the summer of 2013 the swings in Fin du Monde became outrageous.
Other Unibroue beers were affected to varying degrees at the same time but Fin du Monde was by far the primary problem.
I was purchasing from several outlets in British Columbia.
In a couple of the stores I was on first name basis with the owner or manager.
After receiving beer that on more than one occasion was absolutely dead flat I took action.
I tracked down several different email addresses for Unibroue executives and reps in Quebec and politely emailed them.
No response, ever.
I then returned dead flat beers both opened and unopened to stores where I either knew the owner or manager well.
I explained about my emails and asked to speak with the local Unibroue rep or distributor.
I was told that the rep was very difficult to see and was very rarely around but my name, phone number and email was taken to be passed on to him.
My money for both opened and unopened returned beer was refunded on the spot.

At that point Fin du Monde was pulled from the shelves.
I hunted around and it was pretty much pulled from all British Columbia stores that I checked.
Both on the Island and the mainland.
Some stores said that they were not aware it was ordered pulled but that they were not receiving their current Fin du Monde back orders.
Some stores were told to pull just Fin du Monde and other stores were told to pull several Unibroue product lines.
Unibroue was obviously recalling several production batches.

I continued to try and get a meeting with my local Unibroue distributor.
No luck, the guy would not meet with me or communicate with me in any way.
In about a month new shipments of Fin du Monde hit the shelves.
Then the manager of my local liquor store pulled me aside (this is one of the guys that had been bugging the local Unibroue rep to meet with me).
He gave me an on the spot cash refund for all the bottles of Unibroue that I felt were substandard in the past.
I said, as best as I could recall, 10 or 12 750 ml bottles.
He also gave me a variety case of Unibroue beer (12).
He told me the money and the beer was from the local Unibroue rep but that the rep was still far too busy to meet with me in person.
Ok fine.

I returned to buying Fin du Monde into the winter of 2013.
And I was still getting the odd bottle of very lightly carbonated and winey tasting Fin du Monde.
I returned several opened but unconsumed bottles to my local store and again the owner agreed there was an obvious problem with quality control.
Money for the returned bottles was refunded and yet again I tried to meet with the local Unibroue rep.
No luck, the guy would not communicate with me at all.

As others have said I think it is the cork and cage on the 750ml bottles combined with secondary or priming yeast issues.
But in my view the main problem was probably the lack of quality control.
But make no mistake Unibroue obviously knows all about these problems.

I wish Unibroue well.
I would never deny that they can knock out excellent beer for a more than reasonable price.
However I think the fact that Unibroue refuses on all levels to meet or communicate with a polite but dissatisfied customer shows utter disregard for its client base.

I will never knowingly purchase another Unibroue product for that reason

 

Interesting I've never had any Unibroue that I didn't like and it's always been consistent. La Fin Du monde is in my top 10 of all time. It's always available at my grocery store. I'm 'concentrating' mostly on DIPAs now but I have a hard time not buying something from Unibroue.

 

I'm not a fan of their beers. IMO they're very over-rated. And I love Belgian-style ales. There're so many better tripels than theirs. btw Unibroue = Sapporo

 

I hope Unibroue doesn't see this thread. Surely 4 flat bottles will cause them to immediately cease all brewing operations...

Imagine how quickly The Lost Abbey would be shut down

 

Mattsander.. I have to agree with you somewhat on LA although they knocked it out of the part with DDG this past year. Still I wouldn't touch Cuvee de tomme or most of the bourbon barrel stuff out of the bottle anymore.. Just too inconsistent and always flat. My love/hate relationship with them is limited to just getting the real special stuff and dealing with the outrageous pricing for special occasions.

Unibroue has rarely disappointed.

 

the last two to three times I've had Trois Pistoles, it tastes like a different beer. I think they must have changed the recipe for this one.

 

La Fin du Monde and Trois Pistoles were the first two beers to truly bowl me over...After I had those, there was no going back to crappy, fizzy macro beer. The coolest thing though is that every time I drink these beers they taste just as good as the first time I had them. It's a testament to the quality of beer they make. I'm really proud that the customer service people have reached out to those with bad bottles (I've never had this problem myself). That's how you take care of your customers.

 

Nearly everything I have had from them has been awesome. (Sorry ephemere... You just don't make the grade.)

 

I've never had a bad experience with Unibroue, so I can't relate to you frustration. I drink their offerings pretty regularly, too.

 

I like Unibroue. Everything I have from them is lovely.

 

3 year old Trois Pistoles pulled from the basement last night...

And it was great.

 

next to your savant rating it says 420

 

Great Brewery
sorry to hear you got a bad bottle or 2