Unibroue ‘Trois Pistoles’

Unibroue 'Trois Pistoles'
Unibroue 'Trois Pistoles'

I get mistaken for Canadian, sometimes (I have very idiosyncratic accent — and no idea why I do). I have Canadian relatives, I’ve been to Canada (though I was not of beer-buying age), one of my favourite bands (The Tragically Hip) is Canadian, as are some of my most-beloved TV shows (Wonderfalls, Due South). So, how the hell did I get to Diary II without any Canadian beer, so far? And how the hell did I get this far without this legendary Canadian beer,1 in particular?

I don’t really have an excuse. But here I am, solving both problems at one delicious time. Because this beer is very much not one of those times where you finally try something much-hyped and are left with a confused look on your face, wondering what everyone elses’ fuss was all about. This deserves the not-insignificant fuss it generates.

It’s a dark, broody looking brown with purply highlights that show up against the light or during a swirl — and which suspiciously-well match the Apocalpytic-looking painting on the bottle. Compared to its big, chewy, Belgian-esque brothers, this one has a fresh, ‘uppy’ and particularly plummy fruitiness that brings a whole smackload of deliciously tart flavour into your face — like a crabapple straight off the tree. I do love the more-typical sticky fruity Belgians like Kwak, but this is just utterly fantastic as itself, and as a comparison.

Unibroue 'Trois Pistoles'
Diary II entry #11, Unibroue 'Trois Pistoles'

Verbatim: Unibroue ‘Trois Pistoles’ 18/9/10 9% 355ml $9 from Rumbles. Ticking off another of those embarrassing Never Hads. Very dark brown-with-reddy-purply-highlights-on-the-swirl. Suits the broody Apocalyptic painting on the bottle. The nose is fresh, uppy and plummy, and that nicely tart fruitiness carries on into yer face. Almost crab-apply. Nice to have that side showing up in one of these big Belgian-esque ales — a fresh change from the stickier sweeter ones like Kwak. Old Port wine character, they say, which is fair. (And hey, Three Pistols was always a favourite Tragically Hip track.)


1: The aforementioned favourite band, The Tragically Hip, even did a song (on their 1991 album, Road Apples) called ‘Three Pistols’. I can only assume it’s not directly related — it’s likely that both are named after the Quebec town. I’m a big enough nerd that I made sure I listened to it while drinking the beer — and while writing up this entry, weeks later. These things have to be done, really.


2 thoughts on “Unibroue ‘Trois Pistoles’”

  1. If you haven’t already, I would also suggest trying Maudite. Has to be my favourite from the Unibroue offerings. And also La fin du monde.

  2. Second on Maudite. The Damned. Excellent beer. First tried at Brickskellar in DC. Stupid Canadian beer distribution regs meant that I couldn’t drink this fine Canadian beer easily until I moved to the States. Interprovincial barriers on moving beer province to province were then in place.

    I don’t think that the Trag song has anything to do with the town. It’s often hard to work out what the hell any of their songs are about. Doesn’t make ’em any less great though.

    Wonderfalls was great fun. Check Kids in the Hall too…strongest possible recommendation for sketch comedy…

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