Unibroue's 'La Fin du Monde' Spearheading Canada's Best Since 1994
Jul 29 '02
The Bottom Line All aspects of color, taste, aroma, style hit the marks; a landmark beer
Note 1*This Review has been moved, and unaltered likewise
Note 2. This review is not on the 'Blanche de Chambly', but rather on its sister beer, 'La Fin du Monde'. I decided to rebel and go against the "system" by providing a review on the finest Canadian beer. Both the 'Blanche' and the 'Fin du Monde' are manufactured by the same company, Unibroue, so the review is appropriate under this heading.
Beer has come a long way since the primitive, yet effective, efforts devised by monks in the European monasteries in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. Praying, working, drinking, drinking, drinking, and toasting to God for another successful harvest only scratches the surface of their vigorous and worthy of note lives. After several centuries of diverted religious sanctity into a doldrum of parties, alcoholism and fun and excitement with the nuns (woops), it's not surprising to think that these very people would not want to trade their beer to other markets, for God "blessed them" with the ability to produce the finest quality that must meticulously be kept within the confines of the religious sect. Northeastern French monks fermented beer not once, but thrice. This produced some of the most alcoholic libations around, and was later coined as a trappist snifter (after the local monks); a decision was made to only serve it during "special occasions" (sure…yeah…uh-huh).
The French, as bombastic, flamboyant, and arrogant to conformity as they are, loomed to change these conventions of "proper trappist consumption". From what I have read in magazines, this style of brewery was literally lost or overlooked for the next several centuries. Catastrophic harvests would render the trappist style useless in times of agrarian hardship because many believed that too much effort went into the production of the beer (fermenting it 3 times seemed to put a strain on the cash crops and staple foods in earlier times because of cruder methods and the constant back and forth clearing of yeast).
Unibroue Brief
Unibroue's past is not immersed in history, one of it's members did not fight in the French Revolution, they never bought a small country, they didn't invent the question-mark, nor are they the result of a breakup of Bill G., oh, I mean B. Gates' ever present monopoly. Highlights not withstanding, the humble company has amassed themselves a formidable market across Europe and the Oceania(s) in less than 8 years. After waxing and waning in Quebec with different names and securing financial benefactors (a system of checks and balances and alliance security in Canada), they immediately came out with their first beer, Blanche de Chambly, in 1992; hence this review (but mine is on the better, sister beer, La Fin du Monde). Since 1992, Unibroue has expanded by endowing over $38 million on new industrial projects, growth into other markets, and modern advertising campaigns. Like Napoleon, whom all French believe is related to him (La Résistance!) and who felt that the Revolution is good for everyone, not just the French, Unibroue also maintains this philosophy that "this is good for everyone", not just Quebec and the long dead Trappists of the fourteenth century. La Fin du Monde was created 2 years later in 1994, a total of 11 now comprise the pantheon of Unibroue. By 1996, over 16 percent of Unibroue's constituency lived outside Quebec (I don't know the numbers today, though I'm sure it's much larger)
La Fin Du Monde Brief
La Fin du Monde, which means, "The End of the World", in French, was introduced to the Canadian market after over a year of extensive testing and preparation. Even the name itself seems to strike inquisitiveness with people (well, the ones who know French). The name saturated me with wonder and curiosity. I had to know why this beer was called the 'End of the World'. The article mentioned that the beer was named after the pioneers who landed on the New World believing that this was the edge of civilization.
Did they embark on the fringes of human existence? Was this the edge?
Nope.
At any rate, the content is a staggering 9 percent alcohol-by-volume, over 49 percent more concentrated than most, if not all, mainstream American brands. This is one heavy beer. For me personally, the taste is rich, laden with wild spices such as malts, hops, and protein strands (protein strands are important further down in my review). The 'End of the World' is part of the trappist family, clearly different than anything else that I've consumed. The chemists at Unibroue were quite effective in harnessing the old ways of the monks (though I doubt many know what the original trappist libations taste like). The beer has a "pastry-type" after taste, like the zingy sensation after a good glass of wine (sort of). It does have a slight, and I do mean, slight, consistency with that of the central-vintage grapes of France. The color is strong and parallels the aroma with a sweet, and yet musky, scent. The beer produces severe "foamage", one must poor it delicately in a glass, only tilting it slightly so as to prevent a major catastrophe (the triple fermentation will cause it to foam for a while if nothing is done to resolve a shaken, open bottle).
Yes, sometimes it's like handling an egg.
Not for Everyone
The taste can be a bit overbearing, for some. People acclimated to years of Coor's Light, Budweiser, and light drafts will comment on a rather brawny taste. Of course it can be strong! It's triple fermented, is 49 percent more alcoholic than most beers, and is exposed to a partial filtration system as opposed to a full filtration system.
However, because it's a sweet, and yet musky, beer, it is great with meats. In my opinion, my taste buds suffered little resistance from burgers, chicken, or salads. Medium-rare to well-done steak is particularly conducive to La Fin du Monde. Meats spiced with herbs and dark mutton sauces, even more so.
La Fin du Monde even accentuates "softer" foods. I once had a cheese plate that consisted of brie, blue cheese, Swiss, and many others, underscored with some grapes and French bread. I personally thought it was great and felt it did an above average job amplifying the high's and lows of the starch and sugars in the grapes and bread. The placid, flat taste of the cheeses ran well with it.
Triple Fermentation and the 'Three Methods'
Three methods, that I'm aware of, exist in the production of fine quality beers like the blondes, ales, porters, stouts, and trappists.
A magazine article in Chicago I read several months ago talked about the fermenting process in Unibroue's La Fin Du Monde. The beer is only partially filtered, as opposed to full filtration achieved by most American manufacturers. This encourages all of the proteins in the upscale beer to remain, giving it darker-yellow haze. This method also enables "lees" to form on the bottom, which, I believe, if you let sit for a couple hours in exposed air, will increase the alcohol percentage by a magnitude of 1 percent (the bottom may be slightly more alcoholic than the top). It's especially noticeable in the 750 milligram bottles (though I still never seen a 750 mm!)
The Canadians acquired the trappist style of producing beer (I think the article said that one was retrieved from the Middle Ages in Normandy, France) and flaunt the arduous process of fermenting it 3 times. It is fermented like any other beer, only that once the yeast is injected, and the wort, formed, instead of chilling it to 32 degrees Fahrenheit at the apex, the process is repeated 2 more times, and then only chilled to at/or bellow the freezing point. The fermentation takes more than 60 days, as opposed to the American counterpart of 10-21 days (like Budweiser, Busch, or Miller).
The partial filtration and triple fermentation means that the beer has more vitamin B present, though I wouldn't endorse having your children placed on it if they are suffering from a B-deficiency.
Because of these methods, the beer ripens and tastes better with age. Budweiser launched their "born on date" campaign a while back trying to signify "how cool it is to drink it before 6 months" (will putrefy and rot). Unibroue doesn't need anything as foolish and trite as the "born on date", there beer lasts for a long time.
Most beer is fermented in either the "bottom" or "top" styles. Bottom fermentation is the most popular in the world, especially in the United States, because it is the cheapest, fastest, and easiest to produce. It performs the fastest function because the beer is stored in huge container pontoons while being injected with yeast from the bottom, hence, bottom-style fermentation (at a cool 48 degrees Fahrenheit). It's later chilled to the freezing point and allowed to maturate for about 10-20 days, far quicker than Unibroue's trappist method. The alcohol content is much lower (can be a difference of 40 percent or more) and has a dubious blonde color.
The higher quality, "top" fermentation, calls for a higher temperature (about 20 degrees higher) and the yeast is injected from the top. The higher temperatures and varied method of introducing the yeast gives characteristics of a garish, flamboyant, beer. This is counter-intuitive because the most popular ones of this type (that I've tried) are the dark, English porters and stouts. Guinness, though I could be wrong, is made from the "top".
The final method is called the "spontaneous fermentation". When I traveled to Anderlecht, Belgium last winter, I witnessed the process through a glass window at one of the local amber refineries at first hand and found it rather interesting. The beer is refined in large rooms at temperatures exceeding 15 degrees Celsius (I think that's what the tour guide said, it should be around 60 degrees Fahrenheit). Strangely enough, no yeast is added, only the "natural organisms" floating in the air dazzling in arrays of dance and concert naturally ferments it. When finished, the "lambic", or so I thought I heard, is taken away and placed in storage-bins for about 2 years to obtain "gooze". I later read that its' geuze, and a lambic is the process that the beer underwent. Its spontaneous fermentation did not form yeast through human intervention, but through the natural "bacteria", "spores", and wild yeast ubiquitous in the environment (remind me not to visit that place again, I wonder what type of beer 'Ebola' and 'Dysentery' will make).
Despite my faulty attitude, when arriving back to the States, I realized that this type of fermentation comprises 70 percent of malts and a little more than 25 percent of the wheatless hops; these are the ambers and reds that I so frequently drink (read the label next time, Art!!!)
I still don't know what 'geuze' means, if someone can elaborate, I would appreciate it.
Prizes and Awards
In 1995 and 1996, La Fin du Monde won the world's most prestigious award in alcoholic beverages. The trappist style struck well with not only the reviewers, but also with novice tasters and avid first-timers. Several prizes and distinctions awarded, among others, by The Beverage Testing Institute of Chicago, the benchmark leader in the brewing industry, demonstrated the excellence of these beers. The brewery itself was classified among the 10 best breweries in the world in all categories.
Summation
Unibroue's La Fin du Monde has a shelf life of several years, as opposed to 6 months like most others around the world. Its long shelf life makes it favorable among many foreign distributors and is gaining notoriety in many far reaching markets like the Balkans, Japan, and South America. The taste is quite distinctive as is the name, 'The End of the World'. With its groundwork based on a formula devised many centuries ago in European monasteries along the coasts of northern Europe, the triple fermentation of the beer means that the taste will never fail, the color, never drab into dullness, or the aroma, fade away. Countless distinctions and 2 uninterrupted prestigious awards have underlined the success and popularity of one of Canada's most highly prized beer.
*The old one will be deleted in one week. Sorry reviewers, your ratings will be erased.
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Epinions.com ID:
SnowFalcon_CU
|
|
Location: Boulder, CO
Reviews written: 14
Trusted by: 10 members
About Me:
Si hoc signum legere potes, operis boni in rebus Latinis alacribus et fructuosis potiri potes!*
|
|
|
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.