La Caracole Nostradamus

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

750ml bottle with a "Best By" date around the middle of 2007. Presumably, this beer is 5.5 years old. Cork comes out very easily - lots of pressure behind it, it seems. The aroma comes out with some vigor, too. A fairly straight pour gives me a 2-finger head in a New Belgium tulip, and it looks to be staying pretty well. Nice dark copper/burgundy color, fairly clear.

Nose has a lot of caramel/chocolate. Promising so far. Fruity and a little yeasty, as well. Definitely malt-dominated and sweet.

The flavor is a little different, though. It seems to be led by a somewhat sharp and acidic note. I don’t think it’s oxidization - nothing here reminds me of cardboard. There’re some fruity malt tones in the background. The carbonation is quite sharp - after swirling it in the glass for a while, the sharp flavor is less present, so CO2 may be causing some of the problem. In any case, though, I think this beer is a good way past its prime. I’m sure it’s a great beer when fresh, but I wouldn’t recommend keeping it past the "Best By" date.

At first I didn’t like this. I have long learned not to judge on just one drink. It grew on me as my palate became used to the assault on my senses. Sweet malt, nutmeg, molasses, orange, raisins. It turned out to be a good winters evening drink while helping the wife wrap presents. (actually, she wrapped. I watched and drank!)

750mL bottle --> trappist glass @ 48°F. Pours hazy amber brown. Has a healthy tan head that settles quickly with no lace. Nose is raisin pudding, molasses, and orange peel, and alcohol, but still nice. Taste is medium sweet fruit cake and molasses which gives way to minerals with slightly sour yeasty finish. Mouthfeel is lighter than medium body, thin for a belgian strong with average carbonation. This is one of the first belgian ales i liked. Though I still like it, I may have grown out of it. Snails rock.

Bottle from Ohtsuki. Dark brown with reddish-orange tints. Low but thick and fine, solid-looking head. Sweet fruit, pudding, caramel and chocolate aroma. Figs and raisins and cream. Sweet and rich and wonderful, though a little faint. Flavor of cinnamon, chocolate, dried fruits, cherry brandy, Christmas cake. Full and lovely, though still fruity and rather light bodied. A bit of roasting and a bunch of alcohol balance the sweetness, and there is a slight sour apple flavor as well as a touch of metal. Very complex. Very nice, though I would thicken it up and go for an abt. It’s just too thin.

It poured a dark hazy amber liquid with a medium sized light brown foam that left a nice lacing. It had a smell of cognac, booze and wood. Very alcoholic smell. It had a smooth mouthfeel with a medium body and low bitterness. It tasted of cognac, booze, sugar and with a very strong alcoholic finish. For me the alcohol was a bit to overpowering.

Bottle: Hazy ed/brown colour, with a nice creamy head. Aroma had lots of fruits,yeasty,alcy nose. Some maltynes in the end too. Flavor had lots of fruits alcy, yeasty mouthfelling..Some caramelynes was there to, but well hidden I think. Alcy dominated it too mutch . Long citric yeasty finish.

From the bottle, this poured hazy amber brown with raspberry tones. A thin tan head dissipated rather quickly. It smells of intense candied sugars, damp dough, and some fruitiness comes out as it warms, perhaps apricot. The taste is very sweet, but smooth. I don’t find it cloying. The toastiness is very mild. I would say it’s medium bodied. The carbonation is very soft and the alcohol is well hidden. Brown ales are not my favorite, but I enjoy the mild tartness and yeasty backbone of this one more than some others.

(Bottle) Pours dark amber to reddish brown with a creamy off-white head. The aroma is too sweet with clear notes of glue, cardamom/cinnamon, almond paste, raisins/dates, candi sugar, canned pears, over ripe cherries and red apples. Incense-like phenols. Some redcurrant lemonade tartness is notable. A light whisper of malt roast. The nose is too yeasty. I like the esters, but the sugary, gluey and honey-like sweetness is too much. The flavour is medium sweet and light to medium bitter with notes of candi sugar, glue, almond paste, mild grassy/herbal hops, mild tropical fruits, spices and cherries. The mouthfeel is round with near medium carbonation. The finish is tart and light astringent. Medium to full bodied. There is almost nothing enjoyable about this beer - too sweet, too hard and too mediocre. This is a Belgian beer at its worst.