Casta Unica Castana

Formerly brewed at Especialidades Cerveceras (FEMSA)
Style: Belgian Strong Ale
Apodaca Nuevo Leon, Mexico

Serve in Trappist glass, Tulip, Tumbler

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Thanks Cquiroga! Pours a cloudy dark brown color with a small head and decent amount of very bubbly lacing. Aroma is smooth with bananas hints and a slight floral undertone. Flavor is light with caramel, banana and strong malt hints. Almost tastes as if something is missing from the beer. It’s a good beer but has the potential to be great.

1 L, #0727. Pours clear and deep golden amber with a small to fully gone head. Aroma is dark malty with thick caramelish note. Dark and towards oxidised malt note. Bitter, dark roasted and slight breadish. Dry and malty finish.

Bottle shared at Woodshop 5.0. Pours golden copper with a thin off-white head. Aroma is vinous with caramel, overripe apples, and brown sugar. Watery toasted caramel flavor, very clean without much body.

2005 750mL bottle, #B0201, must be the only bottling.. needed something Mexican for Cinco do Mayo! Poured medium copper with fine sediment suspended in there and almost zero head. The aroma was sweet with plums and raisins joined by lesser molasses character.. dusty yeast and sour toasted banana on the back.. not bad, but not too exciting. The flavor had a bit more of the sourness throughout that wasn’t necessarily bad, but it didn’t do anything good for it.. plums, raisins, and aged caramel at the core.. dry grassy notes and brown sugar surrounded.. finished tangy and sour. Medium-bodied and long-lasting on the palate with sourness all the way and grainy residual warmth on the finish.. aiight stuff.

Deep brown’ no head. Funky aroma of sour malts. Not quite rite at this point, but they originally had some good malts and love in this...past it ’s prime but worth a footnote as something special!

(750ml bottle, #0643) Pours a mahogany body with a medium beige head. Aroma of toasted malt, raisins, plums, caramel, and cherries. Sweet flavor of raisins, plum, brown sugar, and dates with a somewhat dry finish.

3/9/05 750 ml. Hazy amber brown with large tan head quickly dissipating.Malty aroma with alcohol present. .Sweet malty taste with some yeast and alcohol present. a little thin

Bottle B0089. Very taxing cork extraction. Broken cork followed by cork screw extraction. Brown color with hints of chestnut when held to the light. The few bubbles form a ring around the edge of the glass. Malty aromas with dark caramel and figs. Mild herbal notes with wintergreen and tarragon. HInts of dough, other berries and old barn grainy scents. The small bubbles coat the glass with each sip and very slowly and gently slide back down the glass. Smooth feel, but nothing special. LIghtly toasted bread flavors with a light sweet currant and butter topping. Light tobacco in the middle or perhaps a touch of peat which seems to float over into the linger. Not a lot more than that going on. Light alcohol feel and warmth in the back of the throat and in the stomach, which seems to get stronger and have some a peppery bite the longer I imbibe. A twist on a Belgian strong. Comes across like a Herb/spice/vegetable brew toward the end of the bottle. Don’t know that I needed 25.4 oz. of this.

750 ML bottle # B 1854, MJ’s Rare Beer Club: Pours chestnut brown, lightly hazy, and has a lasting light brown sugar head. It seems pretty subtle in it’s aromas as none of them are really strong. Some lightly nutty and toasted malts, herbal and earthy hop aromas. Very light roasty aroma, almost no dark fruit, but lightly plummy, and very little spicy yeast character. Well balanced at first, but finishes dry and lightly bitter w/ a light roasty malt aftertaste. Some herbal hoppy flavors with toasty malt and very little raisiny flavor. Highly carbonated, well hidden alcohol, lightly dry in the mouth, light bodied probably due to higher carbonation. Overall a big disappointment to me. Very flat and thin on my palate for what it is supposed to be. Not the best strong I’ve had, but far from the worst.

Beer pours like a flat brown cola. No head and the complete lack of carbonation portends a lackluster experience ahead. Aroma is malty, bready with some dark fruits, prunes and plums. Flavor follows aroma with quite enjoyable dark fruit flavors along with some nice sweet bread pudding flavors. The real deal killer with this beer is the lack of carbonation. If this beer had been properly carbonated, it would have been a proper Belgian, but the lack of carbonation is a deal killer for me.

I’m not sure. I think I like it... but it’s almost more like drinking a wine than drinking a beer. It pours a brownish red or reddish brown, depending on the angle of the lighting and when you blink. It has almost no carbonation and had only the suggestion of a head immediately following the pour. The aroma has a sturdy, sweet malt base blended with dark, juicy fruits (Italian prune plums & black cherries), a dash of hot spices, alcohol, and a splash of balsamic vinegar. Peppery on the tongue. The flavor is somewhat sweet with a subtle underlying sourness. It’s quite malty, bready, and full of the fruits mentioned before... the alcohol making itself known every step of the way. It has a wine-like, fruity sweet finish with a quiet alcohol burn. Yes. I like it.

By the way - Fun music for my rating #2600!

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