Ephemere (Unibroue)

When one thinks of fall, you’re typically reminded of the start of football season, major league baseball playoffs, and for anyone familiar with Champaign-Urbana, at least one trip to Curtis Orchard. With this in mind, I felt it would be an interesting change of pace to try an apple beer.

Enter Ephemere (Unibroue).  Brewed in Quebec, Canada, initially I was expecting something similar to a Strongbow or Woodchuck, but Ephemere was much sweeter. Once you pop the cork you are greeted by the welcoming scent of granny smith apples. That smell however, was by and far the best part of this brew. 

When it comes to the taste, the best way I can describe it is to compare it to a Summer Shandy. It carries the light airy taste of a mass produced lager with the taste you’d expect from apple juice. These two distinct flavors blend well and provide you with a beverage that is more than just a generic light lager mixed with apple syrup.

Unfortunately, Ephemere loses whatever positive appeal it has rather quickly. I had purchased this brew in a 22 ounce bottle and wasn’t even half way through when it began losing its chill. As it warmed, and warmed quickly it did, the beer flavor petered out and the apple flavoring went sour.

It went from ok to unbearable in a matter of 10 to 12 minutes getting worse with every passing second. Believing that no beer, no matter how bad, deserves the punishment of a drain pour, I powered through. However, I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t at least warming to the idea with every painstaking drink I took.

Initially I had wanted to give Ephemere (Unibroue) a middle of the road review, but when it came time to put pen to paper I couldn’t bring myself to do it. This was definitely a beer that was unable to endure the slightest bit of casual drinking and its rating reflects that.

Ephemere (Unibroue) comes in at 4 mugs out of 10.