Trader Joe's 2011 Vintage Ale

Drinking beer while traveling in the US used to be a very meager adventure. Dominated by the big bland mega brewers, you were often stuck drinking weak yellow liquid that spawned naughty jokes about adult behaviour in canoes. Lately things are much improved, with microbrews available most everywhere.

Trader Joe's Vintage Ale

Price: $4.99 USD for 750mL

9% Alcohol/Vol.

Trader Joe's hardly qualifies as a microbrew, but this beer clearly reflects their desire to provide a premium product for customers seeking novel flavours. In fact, this is actually brewed by Unibroue, a brewer rapidly becoming the preferred provider to this blog. Produced annually in limited quantities, each vintage is said to have a unique personality. 

Drinking impression: Thick, dark and showing some complexity. Starts by reminding me of a trappist ale, though the finish is both slightly weak and a little bitter, lacking the fullness of a better brew.

Would you buy it again? Nah. Fun once, but not good enough to seek out again. 

Would you drink two in a row? No, and in fact 750mL of this needs to be shared. 

Best time and place to drink it: Drowning your sorrows after losing your second game in a row, forcing your team to curl at 8:30am on a Saturday.

Out of ten: A four. Thicker than it needs to be, even for a bottle conditioned ale, and a disappointing aftertaste.