Blanche De Chambly

Unibroue is a brewery in Quebec, Canada that has it's beginnings as a 1990 buy-out of the already existing Brasserie Massawippi located in North Hatley, which produced the first craft beer meant for commercial distribution. After becoming one of the most successful microbreweries in Canada, Unibroue was soon acquired by Sleeman Breweries, which itself was merged with Sapporo brewery in 2006.

Blanche de Chambly is Uniboue's flavorful, relatively low alcoholic Belgian ale with plenty of phenolic spice and fruity esters. There's coriander in the nose and sweet orange peel comes on strong in the taste. With all that going on, I was surprised how un-impressive I was with this beer. Sure, it's quaffable but what detracts from the possibilities offered by those initial flavor components is the overly sweet bready flavors with a heavy handed candy sugar presence that feels cloying and burdensome. It impressed me as that of an under attenuated tripel. As if it didn't quite reach it's potential before being bottled. Consequently it lacks the crisp dry mouthfeel that I want from a witbier.

According to Wiki "Chambly is the very first ale brewed by Unibroue and as Belgian tradition dictates for white ales, it is named after the city in which it is brewed. In 1996, Chicago's Beverage Testing Institute declared Blanche de Chambly 'The World’s Best White Ale.'"

My feeling is that this beer is brewed to appeal to the masses rather then to adhere to the ideals of the Belgian Witbier style. But that's just me.