is Unibroue available in Belgium?

spinrsx · Post by **spinrsx** » Sat Nov 03, 2012 8:31 pm

I'm curious to see what the people over there think of the Unibroue products. Would belgian people even bother buying it? Now that I've tried a bunch of Belgian beers I can say that Unibroue is not far off quality wise in terms of the belgian style.

Tapsucker · Post by **Tapsucker** » Sat Nov 03, 2012 9:22 pm

Sadly, when I was last in Belgium years back, most of the people I hung out with were pretty much stuck on Heineken. The ones that care about their local beer styles seemed too brand snobby to accept an imported effort. Heck, they wouldn't even drink beer from the next town. Total tribalism.

I may be a bad judge, I'm just not that crazy about those styles, but I do recognize the quality of Unibrue and they would probably fit right in on blind tasting. Ultimately, xenophobia would limit their brand selling well there.

JeffPorter · Post by **JeffPorter** » Sat Nov 03, 2012 9:43 pm

Tapsucker wrote: Heck, they wouldn't even drink beer from the next town.

Sounds just like food in Italy.

Belgian · Post by **Belgian** » Sat Nov 03, 2012 10:02 pm

I always understood Unibroue beers were well-received in France, since it's a gastro culture and they probably like the colorful French branding.

As for Belgium, I wonder if the average urban Quebec beer drinker is more 'Belgian' in their beer taste than typical Belgians!

Tapsucker · Post by **Tapsucker** » Sun Nov 04, 2012 12:32 am

Belgian wrote:I always understood Unibroue beers were well-received in France, since it's a gastro culture and they probably like the colorful French branding.

As for Belgium, I wonder if the average urban Quebec beer drinker is more 'Belgian' in their beer taste than typical Belgians!

While Quebec hosts more Belgian inspired breweries than the rest of Canada, it always blows my mind how so many do English style beers well. My guess is they are on top of some good aquifers for Burton inspired beers.

JerCraigs · Post by **JerCraigs** » Sun Nov 04, 2012 10:53 am

I think I saw them on the menu at a couple of places in Brussels but I don't entirely remember.

iguenard · Post by **iguenard** » Sun Nov 04, 2012 12:23 pm

I vaguely remember speaking with Unibroue brass about how they pulled out of France/Europe. QC does brew some great belgian inspired beers....

- Brouhaha Special B (abbey quad)
- Hildegard Rouge des Cantons (flemish sour)
- Fin du Monde, Eau Bénite (abbey triple)
- Blanche de Chambly (wit)
- Buteuse (belgian strong blonde)
- Charlevoix Dubbel (abbey dubbel)
- Charlevoix Brut (champagne-style triple)
- Rigor Mortis (trappist quad)
- Hopfenstark (belgian saison)
- Dieu du Ciel Solstice d'été (raspberry lambic)
- A la Fut Cop V (kriek)
- Corne et la Muse (scotch ale)

And I am probably forgetting a ton.

St Veronus · Post by **St Veronus** » Wed Nov 07, 2012 1:56 pm

I remember stumbling (happens a fair bit in Belgium) upon a cafe in Brussels that specialized in Unibroue beer. This would have been 2000 or 2001. I have not seen it on subsequent visits and did not go in the one time I did see it. They had La Fin du Monde signs all over the outside and the list had about ten Unibroue beers on it both draft and bottles. I have never seen them anywhere else in Belgium since in ten plus visits.

Philip1 · Post by **Philip1** » Fri Nov 09, 2012 12:37 pm

The famous Kulminator pub in Antwerp had a selection of Unibroue beers when I was there in 2009. It's the only place in the three cities in Belgium I've spent time in where I've seen their beers.

Beyond Belgium IIRC a beer specialty pub in Amsterdam, De Wildeman, has had Trois Pistoles on draught before - this is going back about five years. And FWIW there are Canadian theme bars in Paris that sell Blanche de Chambly and Maudite but I doubt they are available anywhere else - unlike Moosehead which seems to get distributed to some regular bars. Quite a number of Unibroue beers used to be available at one British beer distributor but looking at its website below that's no longer the case.

http://www.beersofeurope.co.uk/beers?co ... hers=63961

thelynchfella · Post by **thelynchfella** » Sat Nov 10, 2012 7:54 am

I lived in Belgium for over a year and still travel there every couple of months. I love Belgian beers, the best in the world in my opinion. In terms of quality, the unibroue beers are up there with the best of them. No doubt. I just wish i could get them in Ireland now that I'm back here!!