La Caracole Nostradamus

Brewed by La Caracole
Style: Belgian Strong Ale
Falmignoul, Belgium

Draft @ The Brick Store: Hazy dark amber color and a large persistant off-white head. The aroma was sweet and fruity. dusty and yeasty notes were present and mixed in with the malt. Fruity flavor with plums and raisins. It was grapey almost like a grape soda. Semi-dry finish with a medium body.

300 mL bottle Aroma: Strong odor of apple and molasses. Appearance: Somwhat cloudy and yet very pretty cherry wood brown. Head was tan in color and frothy at pour with excellent lacing. Head lasted nicely during the tasting. Flavor: Sweet, apple flavor initially with medium-to-thick body. Palate: This should come as no surprise as this is a 9.5% alcohol beer but after the sweet apple taste it quickly morphed from oatmeal cookie to quite dry. The finish was very long. Definitely one of the longest lasting beers I have tasted this side of barley wine. While dry it was not unpleasantly so as the lightly sweet taste stayed with you. Overall: An excellent Begian Brown that I would highly recommend if you want to try something that packs a lot of punch in both flavor and buzz potential. Normally one beer does not even register on my buzz senses but this one got me feeling pretty good after only half a bottle! Probably not a session beer but a great nightcap. Bravo! I look forward to finding more beers from this brewery.

Bottle 75 cl, nice deep brown color with a light tan head. Most excellent nose, reeeks of yummy fruits. Raisins and currants. Smooth beyond beleif with lots of malt backbone to hide the alcohol. Had this twice and it is becoming a personal favorite.

Brown bottle, expiry date: 3 2007; eye: brown with reddish reflections, cream head, effervescence; nose: caramel, yeast, spices, roastiness, corn (grain); mouth: caramel, yeast, spices, moderately sweet and bitter, long finale, slightly carbonated, medium to full body FRANÇAIS Bouteille brune, 9 %, date de péremption : 3 2007; oeil : brune, reflets rougeâtres, mousse crème, effervescence; nez : caramel, levure, épices, torréfaction légère, maïs (grain); bouche : caramel, levure, épices, modérément sucrée et amère, longue finale, légèrement carbonatée, corps moyen à plein

Okay, I think I did get a bad bottle the first time. Much better this time. Nice flavor good amber color. No off flavors showing through. Did I get a bad bottle? I don’t know All I got was sickly sweet with a load of iron. I could have sucked on a scab while swilling a AB product and gotten the same effect.

A good, solid brown ale with seriously complex and multi-faceted flavors and aromas. I’m not sure of the specific things going on, but this beer is definitely got some punch to it. I need to get a second bottle.

The power of prophets is undeniable – their veracity is more dubious. Still, something about their mystique drives hordes of believers, observers and skeptics to envy whatever profound knowledge they harbor, whether it be the truth of the cosmos or a hidden confession of their trade as a performing mountebank. Today’s modern augurs are usually street bound demagogues, and as such are robbed of an important element to their illusory grasp on time and fate. A prophet is only as good as his presentation and nobody is willing to apostatize for a soothsayer clad in worn out tennis shoes and pants made out of trash bags. There are the more upscale types like Edgar Cayce that had the consideration to offer drinks and preach from a comfortable living room. But no one comes close to the intricately fabricated and thoroughly distorted reputation of Nostradamus. The illusions of grandeur he assiduously wove around his own dramatis persona survive to this day. Many swear by his oft macabre predictions, and enough of them have been vaguely interpreted successfully to warrant serious scrutinization by the media, which in turn fuels even more to adhere to his specious calls on the future. In my opinion it’s all a very ornate façade; a great performance with no substance. Apparently, La Caracole is a brewery true to history, crafting a Belgian Strong Ale that vividly resembles the career of our foresighted friend. The aptly named Nostradamus emits an aura of intrigue, but when an effort is made to find its genuine character all we find is a hollow version of our expectations. In other words, a false propechy. Still, we must give the Nostradamus credence for its tasteful, if deceptive, appearance. The body of the beer glistens a deep, hearty red like an expensive redwood armoire, with a dozen rising columns of bubbles lending a look appropriate for an alchemist’s medieval workbench. The head is only a temporary decoration, billowing up to a nice light chocolate colored top and then quickly fading away. The smell is reminiscent of many excellent Belgian Strong Ales I had about a year ago, cascading with all manner of sweet fruits. Bananas, red and green grapes, apples, bubble gum, wet bark and spring water all evolve from the glass, blending into a complex aroma that I have difficulty picking apart. But with the taste the prophet’s illusion ends. A considerable flavor of roasted malts, soy sauce and salt immediately strikes the tongue, followed by a yeasty quality and at last a red wine after taste. But where’s the fruit? Where’s the complexity I found in the aroma? I’m slightly consoled that Nostradamus improved a bit with a little warmth. However, acclamation to room temperature lended only a little sweetness and a little smoothness. The overall flavors did not change, leaving me and a slew of expectations unfulfilled and unsatisfied. I should have expected that coming from a beer named for a hit-or-miss seer, but I suppose even my hopes were raised at the prospect of having a drink of prophetic proportions. From now on I’m sticking to the truth: figures, statistics and pundits. Surely THEY don’t lie.

Bottle. Black/Reddish beer with a strong off white head. The aroma is vineous and spiced and the flavour is very strong, mulled, vinous with a heavy slightly bitter finish. Overall a nice beer.