UBU Ale - Lake Placid Craft Brewing Company

northyorksammy

Ontario (Canada)

3.55/5  rDev -4.3%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5

Decent brew, some hops and yeast in aroma. Some bitterness and roastiness and nuttiness. So complexity and higher alcohol is assimilated. Amber colour. Medium mouthfeel. Will try again in bottle.Not for everyone because of bitterness on tongue, but I could have a few pints..

Serving type: on-tap

10-31-2005 03:55:21 | More by northyorksammy

BuckeyeNation

Iowa

4/5  rDev +7.8%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

Superstrong iced tea brown with autumn leaves highlights of bright orange and cranberry red. A thick slice of sandstone colored foam is a perfect color match for the beer on which it sits. You want beautiful lace? You got it. This is what a strong ale should look like.

The nose is okay, but it could be more forthcoming. The beer smells like a cross between a brown ale and a (mild) Scotch ale. Whatever hops were present at the time of bottling must have faded, and there's no trace of alcohol. Hopefully, warming will bring out a few hidden charms.

Ubu tastes better than it smells. Since English strong ale is something of a wide-ranging style, it easily fits within those guidelines. I'm now reminded of a combination porter and wee heavy. There's definitely some chocolate malt present and a substantial amount of dark fruitiness as well.

While the flavor profile doesn't give itself up willingly, it's beginning to do so as the beer warms. Dark brown sugar, cocoa powder, figs macerated in black coffee, pipe tobacco and English Breakfast tea leaves. This is impressively complex ale in the end.

Since the taste score is close to earning a promotion, without quite getting there, Ubu's drinkability score will get a bump. Besides, it is nicely drinkable. The mouthfeel is full enough without being too full. In other words, it's juuust right.

This English strong ale was named after a 'legendary' chocolate lab. While it falls short of the lofty standard known as legendary, it is damn good beer that I'd love to drink again. Man's best friend? Ubu. Man's second best friend? Ubu Ale.

Serving type: bottle

09-11-2008 13:06:24 | More by BuckeyeNation

mikesgroove

South Carolina

3.68/5  rDev -0.8%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Not really sure what to make of this one, I got it as an extra and really was quite perplexed by it. Served cold and poured into a pint glass, it was consumed on 10/06/2009.
 
The pour was decent enough, dark brown at times almost looking black in the right light with a big head of white creping up and over the top throughout the session. Really quite nice looking. Aroma was a bit off, light hops, hints of peat and a touch of brown sugar, seemed a bit all over the place for me, but then again I have to admit it sort of worked on some level. So I reach in for a sip and it is very smooth, medium feel with a nice level of carbonation that really lets it coat the tongue very nicely. Smooth chocolate notes and hints of light sugar accent the nice hop bite. Bready mid palate before falling into a caramel and sugar finish. Smooth without much drying at all. Easy to drink with no noticeable ABV at all.
 
Overall pretty interesting I have to admit, again nothing crazy here, but I was not really looking for Crazy. I could do this one again for sure.

Serving type: bottle

10-09-2009 22:10:28 | More by mikesgroove

Phyl21ca

Quebec (Canada)

2.42/5  rDev -34.8%
look: 3 | smell: 2 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 2.5

Bottle: Poured a medium black color ale with a nice foamy off-white head with standard retention. Aroma of roasted malt is kind of weak and I could not find anything else really. Taste is also a bit thin with some roasted malt and not much else going on. As mentioned, body is thin and carbonation is low I’ve had much better beer form that style to truly care about that one.

Serving type: bottle

08-22-2005 14:57:05 | More by Phyl21ca

oberon

North Carolina

4.1/5  rDev +10.5%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

A real nice find while visiting the in-laws in Buffalo,pours a deep amber with nut much head to speak of a nice deeply fruity malty taste with an appetizing dry earthiness that lingers thru the finish.A somewhat chewy very appetizing night cap beer,now I know why I love this style of beer!

Serving type: bottle

03-28-2004 02:50:41 | More by oberon

NeroFiddled

Pennsylvania

4.4/5  rDev +18.6%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

A clear, deep chestnut body is topped by a frothy light tan head that holds with tenacity. It eventually drops to a creamy collar and thin surface covering but leaves some very nice Brussel's lace that actually looks like lace! Its malty nose displays a note of chocolate and some mild grassy and floral hops. The body is medium and it's quite creamy across the palate with a very fine, moderate carbonation. The flavor is much richer than the nose suggests with a tight combination of caramelish malt that fades away to reveal a light chocolate note after the swallow; a mild underlying fruitiness that suggests apples, dark berries and raisins; a well-infused hop flavor that's floral and gently grassy; and a firm, supportive bitterness that allows the gently sweet malt character to shine but not overwhelm. It finishes dry with some lingering hop flavor and bitterness. Exceptionally well-balanced with the malt, hops and fruitiness playing off of each other! A highly drinkable ale that offers enough complexity to keep it interesting through several pints!

Serving type: bottle

03-11-2003 17:49:25 | More by NeroFiddled

feloniousmonk

Minnesota

3.75/5  rDev +1.1%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

On first hearing of this brew, I was intriqued by the name and imagined it was christened in honor of the absurd and vile protoganist of Alfred Jarry's satirical, scatological works of the turn of last century. Turns out they named it after a dog, but I'd like to think the dog was named after that ridiculous, surrealistic king of Poland. And hey, how about the beer?
Appearance: dark eggplant color, nearing a pure violet, with a good, fuzzy, cream-colored head.
Aroma:oddly uncategorizable, though I feel I've encountered this particular nose before, I can't think of where or when. (I hear a Gershwin tune coming on.) A little nutty, a trifle fruity, but nothing like what those words would mean to your mind on their own. I'll drink deeper to divine more precise connotations...horse blanket, bog soil, wet cat, cactus juice, marmot saliva...oh, now I'm making stuff up!..a bit flinty, minerally, hints of smoke and moss, utterly unique.
Enough, time to taste. Little hops, big malt, but none too untoward.
Medium to full body, and smooth drinking, but a bit flat, unfortunately.
"Just the right amount of hops", says the label. Meaning, "none"?
A little more fruit in the flavor peeks in later, in the form of raisins, dates.
Too little spark to this very unusual beer, somthing I long for in an ale.
Strength only asserts itself at the end, by which point I'm relieved this odd little journey is over.
I do wish I could try one again, to further explore it's mysterious secrets, and give thanks to the good McCall for providing!

Serving type: bottle

10-29-2003 23:19:38 | More by feloniousmonk

WesWes

New York

3.15/5  rDev -15.1%
look: 2.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 3

The beer pours a hazy dark amber color with an overflowing white head that takes forever to fade. The aroma is dry and musty. It has a bit of maltiness to it. The taste is decent. It is mildly malty and smooth. It isn't very complex, but it does the job. The mouthfeel sucks. It is way too overcarbonated. It is medium bodied and not very enjoyable. It's one and done for me.

Serving type: bottle

12-22-2003 01:07:17 | More by WesWes

Mora2000

Texas

3.68/5  rDev -0.8%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Thanks to bu11zeye for sharing this bottle.

The beer pours a red-amber color with a white head. The aroma is toffee with some earthy and dirty hops. The flavor is toffee, earthy hops and some fruit. Medium mouthfeel and medium carbonation. Decent, but nothing special.

Serving type: bottle

07-30-2010 00:47:01 | More by Mora2000

TheManiacalOne

Rhode Island

4/5  rDev +7.8%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Poured from a 12oz bottle into a US tumbler pint glass.

A: The beer is a dark reddish brown color, with a short off-white head that fades quickly and leaves a thick lace on the glass.

S: The aroma contains brown sugar, dark fruit, honey, caramelized malts and a good amount of hops.

T: The taste is very malty with sweet flavors of dark fruit, honey, brown sugar and a faint touch of chocolate. The hops presence is subdued but complementary and provides a good balance. The after-taste is slightly sweet.

M: Crisp and very smooth, medium body, medium carbonation, finish is slightly sticky.

D: Tasty, goes down easily, not too filling, decent kick, good representation of style, while there are others in the style I would pick first this is still a solid beer worth drinking for a while.

Serving type: bottle

10-20-2010 04:21:24 | More by TheManiacalOne

russpowell

Oklahoma

3.13/5  rDev -15.6%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

Got this from mjtierman, Cheers Matt!

Pours chestnut with 2+ fingers of mocha colored head. Good head retention & decent lacing

S: Dark fruit & leafy hops & boozy figs once warm

T: Faint caramel, leafy hops, & some metallic notes up front. Tobacco notes, a bit of plum & faint cherries. Finishes some what watery, with leafy hop notes & a whisper of figs& a touch of booze

MF: Medium bodied with fairly assertive carbonation, starts to thin out as this warms.

Maybe this past its prime, either way this failed to excite me

Serving type: bottle

05-28-2011 03:21:28 | More by russpowell

Gavage

New Jersey

4/5  rDev +7.8%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

Pours a nice dark brown color with an off-white head. Some lacing was produced through the drink, even though the head did disappear before the glass was half empty. The aroma is pleasant, mostly malt with a faint hop nose.

The flavor is very malty, with some slight bitterness detected while swallowing. Some very mellow and faint chocolate tones are also noticable. Medium body beer (slanting towards the heavier side) produces a good mouthfeel. Carbonation levels are good. The higher alcohol level is not very noticable, which makes this extremely drinkable. Overall a nice flavorful ale.

Serving type: bottle

01-01-2004 19:19:53 | More by Gavage

jwc215

New Jersey

4/5  rDev +7.8%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Pours dark brown with ruby highlights/deep garnet. A thin tan head leaves lacing.

The smell is of chocolate/toffee with a hint of prune/fig fruitiness.

The taste is of chocolate/toffee with prune/fig. Sweet, but with a balancing hop touch and light roast. Just a hint of alcohol shows. A nice malty, but not too sweet, taste.

It is velvety smooth and on the fuller side of medium-bodied.

A delicious, smooth, malt-accented brew!

Serving type: bottle

12-15-2009 17:22:59 | More by jwc215

tempest

Pennsylvania

4.1/5  rDev +10.5%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

On-tap at Kitty Hoynes

Nice dark brown with a short head and some lacing. Aroma is a mixture of pale and chocolate malts. Taste is mellow with subtle dark fruit flavors and chocolate. Doesnt feel like a 7% beer, very drinkable. I dont know where the 'strong ale' distinction comes from. I've always considered this to be a pretty nice brown ale thats a little on the strong side. A pretty good beer, easy to find at the bars I frequent in Syracuse.

Serving type: on-tap

05-09-2006 04:44:04 | More by tempest

WVbeergeek

Ohio

2.98/5  rDev -19.7%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3

Dark roasted malts develop into a ruby highlighted brown ale hue with a light cream colored head with evenly spread lacng. Aroma has dark English malts very earthy and herbal tones going on. I had no idea what Ubu was but it's named for a Black Lab from Lake Pacid, NY cool. Nose also has some deep cocoa dark chcolate tones, with a flavor that adds some complex earthy bitterness to a dark roasted English Ale, touch of peated malts and somkiness but finishes dry with herbal/earthy hops. Mouthfeel is medium bodied slight alcohol caramel streaks across the palate smooth mild carbonation. Drinkability is decent nothing I'm reaching for soon, somebody visited England and wanted to make English ales in Lake Placid, listen up this is American we don't have to brew to style.

Serving type: bottle

07-11-2010 17:42:46 | More by WVbeergeek

RblWthACoz

Pennsylvania

3.6/5  rDev -3%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

Pours a pretty dark brown with a dense tan head. Nose is spicy malts with a sweet tone. Flavor is a bit tangy and heavy on malts as well. A touch of perfume floral tone as well. Feel is smooth on liquid and carbonation. Nothing really interesting going on here. All malts basically, and whereas it isn't a bad beer, I just don't really find it that interesting at all.

What does Ubu mean anyways?

Serving type: bottle

06-04-2009 07:39:35 | More by RblWthACoz

smcolw

Massachusetts

3.6/5  rDev -3%
look: 2.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

Little head that dissipates to nearly nothing--no lace. Dark brown, but light shines through; cloudy.

Dark malts and some brown sugar sweetness. Enough hops to counterbalance.

It's like coffee with sugar and no cream. Good body and carbonation. This has the feel and taste of a sweet porter.

This is easy to drink and flawless. Good as a darker, but mild, alternative.

Serving type: bottle

03-28-2008 01:39:29 | More by smcolw

jdhilt

New Hampshire

3.05/5  rDev -17.8%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

Pours with a five+ finger light tan head that fades slowly leaving a good lace. Cloudy amber color. Light carbonation. Nose is faintly malty. Medium bodied. Starts and finishes with a balance of malt and hops, the high ABV is not noticable. $1.85 for a 12oz bottle from Hoosick Street Discount Bev. Troy, NY.

Serving type: on-tap

12-07-2004 23:29:14 | More by jdhilt

Jason

Massachusetts

3.48/5  rDev -6.2%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3

Good lacing with a deep orange brown hue, buttery and fruity aroma is think of malt and mildly estery alcohol.

Musty diacetyl, buttery at first then more must flavour and then a splash of fruitiness. Toasted malt flavour hit in the middle hard. Hop bitterness is right up there to keep things balanced. Quite malty with a bitter sweet finish.

A tasty strong ale, it was a tad hard to get by the musty character but other than that it ended up to be not half bad.

Serving type: bottle

07-07-2003 18:46:48 | More by Jason

Billolick

New York

3.98/5  rDev +7.3%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

12 ouncer sampled, pours dark amber with a moderate tan head, nose is a nice malty sniff, this is a malty brew, notes of caramel, smoky light toffee notes. Pleasantly balanced and packing a well hidden 7%. Took me awhile to get around to this Ubiquitous brew, but I'm really impressed, tasty stuff. Warming malty finish, long lasting, smooth and satisfying, Nice strong ale. Fine winter quafer.

Serving type: bottle

12-29-2005 17:11:51 | More by Billolick

mdfb79

New York

3.58/5  rDev -3.5%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

Had at a small local tasting.

a - Pours a mahogany brown color with less than one inch of off white head and light carbonation evident.

s - Smells of caramel malts, dark fruits, sugar, and fruity malts,

t - Tastes of wheat, grain, dark fruit, caramel malts, and maybe a hint of alcohol.

m - Medium body and moderate carbonation.

d - An ok strong ale. Some nice fruity malts; would try again.

Serving type: bottle

08-07-2010 02:36:57 | More by mdfb79

ppoitras

Massachusetts

3.9/5  rDev +5.1%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Enjoyed on-tap at the brewpub. Presented in a 1/2 pint pilsnerish-shaped glass.

1/2" beige head over the deeply brown brew. Plentiful lacing. Aroma was lightly of tart but sweet palt malts. Taste was well-balanced, with a clean close, with nary a slight of all that abv. Mouthfeel and drinkability were both great. This is a brew for all seasons.

Serving type: on-tap

07-09-2006 13:42:56 | More by ppoitras

Bighuge

Minnesota

4/5  rDev +7.8%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Murky looking russet brown. Thin dirty white head. Lacing is moderate. Nice little caramel and toffee based maltiness on the nose with a splash of cascades coming through nicely. The caramel malts form a decent base. English style toffee enters the picture. Hops are not overdone and add a nice grapefruit tone to it all. Nice drying effect after the swallow. This beer is quite dry. Cedar dry. Good though. Body hovers around medium. Mouthfeel is a little chalky, but nice. Definitely an enjoyable brew from the land of miracles.

Serving type: bottle

03-03-2005 04:10:42 | More by Bighuge

beerthulhu

New Jersey

3.4/5  rDev -8.4%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3

A: Poured a dark crimson red with a 1 finger smooth and frothy khaki colored head. Visible effervesce was strong with a showering display raining upward. Head retention was good, lasting for 3+ minutes before succumbing to a fizzy whipped covering.

S: dark dried caramel being the most dominant. Sweet ripe dark fruit of plums were also well noted along with some rich creamy warm chocolate.

T: The flavor starts off bitter with a dark dried caramel presence, thought the flavor and taste seemed to thin off at the end. Spicy alcohol, warm cider notes, along with dark fruit (plums, and prunes) also accent the flavor here. The alcohol is very noticeable, spicy and warm, perhaps to much so overshadowing the flavor of the beer. A touch of fresh watery black coffee appears on the finis along with some dried caramel coated raisins. Overall found the flavor to start off malty and bitter, only to thin out substance wise and become outshined by the spicy alcohol nature. Not bad, but perhaps a bit unbalanced.

M: light, almost thin at times but smooth and creamy. Some warming from the alcohol is also felt and detected.

D: Malty at the start, and boozy at times may limit and hinder consumption and multiples. Not a bad beer overall, just not session material and perhaps a bit unbalanced. Warming, boozy, and malty and perhaps more suited as a winter warmer.

Serving type: bottle

06-29-2009 23:47:01 | More by beerthulhu

DrJay

Massachusetts

3.8/5  rDev +2.4%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Clear brown with a coppery, reddish hue and a half inch of dense, yellowish beige foam. Great head retention, lacing consisted of thick sheets that really clung to the glass. Malty and fruity aroma, caramel and faint roast, chocolate, light citrus and dried fruits, a hint of smoke. Mild bitterness with a lot of fruity character up front, some citrus and plum, alcohol, malty caramel and bread towards the end. Slightly spicy finish. Medium bodied with ample creamy carbonation, nice texture. I liked it.

Serving type: bottle

07-02-2010 02:27:36 | More by DrJay