Tartarus: Atropos (England: Quadrupel: 10% ABV)
Visual: Very dark brown to black. Huge caramel brown frothy head.
Nose: Coffee granules to general bitter coffee. Crushed raspberry hard sweets. Slight toffee. Liquorice.
Body: Raisins. Prunes. Liquorice. Thick and chewy. Banana esters. Candy sweets. Malted chocolate. Glacier cherries. Slight cloves. Slight raspberry hard sweets. Fudge.
Finish: Coffee. Crushed hard sweets. Bitter. Treacle. Bitter coffee granules. Prunes. Plums. Sultanas and fruitcake. Crushed raspberry hard sweets. Brown sugar. Toffee.
Conclusion: Ok, when I first poured this out and took in the aroma I was underwhelmed, and thus not expecting much of this beer. In fact I did a quick nose of other things just to make sure my nose was not fucked up from hayfever again. Basically I got some coffee notes and nothing else. Not so much bad as just … flat. You would expect more from a big 10% abv quad. As you can see from the notes later more did come out, but this was not a good start and the aroma is never the strong point of this beer.
Then I took my first sip and, fucking hell, the difference between the body and the aroma! This is chewy, lots of dark fruit, and yes there is coffee as well but now it is not the only thing. In fact there is, in addition to the more traditional Belgian ester notes, also an odd banana and cloves subtle note that would feel more familiar in a German hefeweizen. So much going on, just so much to examine.
Now it isn’t all dandy. There is a touch of liquorice that I am not a fan of in general, but for the most part just dive into this beast and enjoy.
It is a smoothish beer, but with lots of the slightly rough Belgian stylings I love. It feels balanced between the super smooth USA version of the style and the amazing rough edge take of the Belgian original. It is a good look and I very much enjoy it.
Now its not perfect, the liquorice is more evident than I would like, keeping it from being a must have. However, ignoring the muted aroma, this is generally really good and I highly recommend it.
Background: Ok, I’m a sucker for Greek mythology stuff, and this was part of a trilogy of beers based on the goddesses of fate with Atropos being the linked with death and the inevitable. I am also a sucker for Belgian Quads, which this is. Finally I am a sucker for trying new breweries I’ve not tried before, which this is. So a trinity of good things for a beer about a trinity of goddesses. This was grabbed as part of a small group from Grunting Growler, trying them out for the first time. Music wise I went with Ghost: Meliora – I know a lot of people don’t like Ghost, but it felt like it fitted with the very mythology style of the beer.
