La Bête Noire
À La Fût

La Bête NoireLa Bête Noire
Beer Geek Stats | Print Shelf Talker
From:
À La Fût
 
Quebec, Canada
Style:
Oatmeal Stout
ABV:
4.8%
Score:
87
Avg:
3.85 | pDev: 9.61%
Reviews:
8
Ratings:
17
Status:
Active
Rated:
Oct 12, 2016
Added:
Jun 07, 2012
Wants:
  2
Gots:
  0
La Bête Noire is a Irish Stout inspiration, a dark beer creamy flavors of dark chocolate and roasted grain coated with the sweetness of the oats. Surprisingly, the bitterness attributed to hops and roasted malts dovetails perfectly with a chocolate dessert. This beer is listed as delight all evening.

48 IBU
Recent ratings and reviews. | Log in to view more ratings + sorting options.
 
Rated: 3 by Hayley_86 from Netherlands

Oct 12, 2016
Photo of TheDoctor
Reviewed by TheDoctor from Canada (QC)

3.8/5  rDev -1.3%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.75
Service: Bottle
Bottled on: Feb-25-2015


A:
Pours a thick-looking motor oil black with a huge, airy, brown velvet head that slowly drops to a decent little cap. Good retention; some swooping lacing. (4)

S:
Oatmeal and cocoa. Creamy sweetness, baker's chocolate, coffee grounds. (4)

T:
Bitter and thick with some sweetness buried. Coffee, bitter chocolate, roasty, cream, rolled oats backbone (with some underlying vague clean, mushy sweetness). (3.75)

M:
Soft effervescent carbonation, less than medium body, lingering, eventually quite noticeable bitter finish that lingers. (3.5)

O:
Pretty good Oatmeal stout, though it wears on you a little more than I'd like.
Pours lovely with a big, gassy head. The aroma is mainly bitter chocolate with some sweet-ish body from the oatmeal. The flavor is more dominated by burnt toast and coffee but there is still a oat presence that fleshes it out and sweetens it up a bit. It is kind of drinkable, but the bitterness gets to be quite a bit. Considering the style and the ABV, this is the biggest weakness of this beer in my opinion since it is pretty tasty.
Pretty in-your-face 'burntedness' that borders on harsh, but good nonetheless. Regardless, this is definitely the best beer by these guys that I have had (though I have yet to try their sours/wilds, which seem to be the most well-regarded).
I might have it again; worth a shot if you like stouts. (3.75)
Aug 14, 2015
 
Rated: 3.73 by groleau from Canada (QC)

Jan 29, 2015
 
Rated: 4 by Socialiste from Canada (QC)

Nov 26, 2014
 
Rated: 3.5 by Franck from Canada (QC)

Oct 01, 2014
Photo of Haydn-Juby
Reviewed by Haydn-Juby from Vermont

3.5/5  rDev -9.1%
Caramel brown head. Pretty dark although the ruby red highlights have me doubting the 50 SRM labeling. I get a lot of coffee on the nose. We're talking coffee grounds. Roast as well. Rich and decadent on the palate. Almost like chocolate milk strained through coffee grounds. A bit of an acrid burnt note as well which is somewhat displeasing to me personally. Not getting that much of the oats in the flavor but the mouth feel is somewhat creamy. Lower level of carbonation. Good overall but it loses points for that slight acrid note. Great that it comes in cans. Amazingly flavorful given the ABV.
Sep 21, 2014
 
Rated: 3.75 by Sammy from Canada (ON)

Sep 05, 2014
 
Rated: 3.8 by BrunoPettipas from Canada (QC)

Aug 15, 2014
Photo of byronic
Reviewed by byronic from Canada (ON)

3.71/5  rDev -3.6%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75
Poured bitch black with a small amount of head with minimal retention

Not a very scented beer. Hints of roasted coffee beans, chocolate and malt.

At first all I could taste was roasted beans followed by a mild chocolate and malt taste. A nice balance between sweetness and bitter.

Good carbonation that follows through. A nice bitter finish, better than expected. Very light, perhaps due to it's low ABV.

Fairly well balanced stout. A bit on the lighter side which makes it easy to drink, perhaps a nice "dark" brew for those hot summer days.
May 16, 2014
Photo of bylerteck
Reviewed by bylerteck from Canada (ON)

3.81/5  rDev -1%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75
Bottle from Peluso in Montreal. Bottled about 4 months ago. From notes.

A - Poured black, duh. One finger of khaki head. Minimal spotty lace and a film of retention.

S - Chocolate, roast, coffee, residual sugar, maybe a bit of dark fruit. Good mix. Mild, but enjoyable.

T - Big roast, some cola, mild chocolate, coffee. Mostly a big roasty malt stout. Fair bit of sweetness and residual sugar mid-palate.

M - Good bitter finish. Good carbonation, medium creamy body.

O/D - Not a bad stout. Nothing to gripe about with this one.
Sep 20, 2013
 
Rated: 4.25 by Melomanemusher from Canada (QC)

Apr 21, 2013
 
Rated: 4.5 by Molson2000 from Canada (ON)

Mar 20, 2013
Photo of Phyl21ca
Reviewed by Phyl21ca from Canada (QC)

3.5/5  rDev -9.1%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5
Bottle: Poured a clear black color stout with a medium light brown foamy head with good retention and some lacing. Aroma of dry roasted malt notes with light bitterness with floral coffee notes. Taste is dominated by floral coffee notes with some pretty good notes of roasted malt with balanced bitterness. Body is light with good carbonation. Not the most complex stout out there but easy drinking with no flaws.
Mar 11, 2013
Photo of 4ster
Reviewed by 4ster from Canada (ON)

3.81/5  rDev -1%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5
Poured into a regular St.Ambois tulip style glass (for lack of any snifter or decent beer glass for this style on hand)
Vintage: Lot 1, Bottled February, 2012

A: Like all good stouts, no light is passing through this one, very dark. Also, not sure what was up with the beer (got too cold in the fridge, old, or ??) but lots of head, like non stop, coming out of the bottle, in the bottle, in the glass that it takes you 5 mins to pour a glass... I see the others haven't had this so not sure what to say except that mine was super frothy, micro bubbles, dark coffee/milk chocolate coloured head that eventually settles down and disappears altogether.

S: Aroma of roasted malts, some cocoa and definitely some coffee/espresso smells. Maybe I'd get more on the nose with a different glass, not sure, or perhaps it is the age of the bottle.

T: Starts off with nice roasted malts and espresso flavours and finishes with bitter chocolate and earthy hops. The flavours are well balanced but lacking some of the complexity that you would find with a stout with twice the malts/ABV as this one at 4.8%.

M: Pretty smooth and quite balanced with a mild carbonation that is ever present. Drinks a bit light due to it's ABV, but for days when you don't want to be drinking 8/9% bombs, that's not necessarily a bad thing.

O: An interesting stout that is not typical but still pretty good. Overall the beer is fairly well balanced but I find it a bit too light in the malt department where the chocolate/coffee is getting a bit overwhelmed by the presence of the hops (with 50 IBU this is more leaning to an Black IPA I would say more than a stout....) I would say it is a pretty easy drinking stout that isn't going to knock your socks off but I enjoyed having with a heavy meal, instead of drinking a heavy meal. Worth a try if you see it in the store. Also not sure what to make of the crazy head on it, as it was slightly annoying when you just want to drink your beer!
Dec 06, 2012
 
Rated: 4.25 by KalanM from Canada (BC)

Nov 28, 2012
Photo of DaftCaskBC
Reviewed by DaftCaskBC from Canada (BC)

4.05/5  rDev +5.2%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5
Thanks to Rutager for this one.

A: 1/4" brown head over black liquid.

S: Grassy hops, roasted malt, oats, coffee and dark chocolate.

T: Whoa that's bitter. Heavily roasted malt, espresso, earthy and grassy hops, oats, with a yeasty finish.

M: Medium viscosity and a medium level of carbonation.

O: Too dry and tasting of carbon for me, the roasted malt was overpowering the rest of the flavours and made this Oatmeal Stout unbalanced in my opinion.
Sep 29, 2012
Photo of Rutager
Reviewed by Rutager from Canada (BC)

4.42/5  rDev +14.8%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5
Appearance. Pours pretty much black with a thin tan head.

Smell. Dark chocolate, roasty grains and some dark roast coffee.

Taste. Dark bitter chocolate, smooth well-roasted malts, some nice bitter hops and espresso. Quite dry and really tasty.

Mouthfeel. Medium body, medium carbonation.

Overall. Wow! Really nice stout with so much flavour. I could use another one of these right around now.

Thanks Hoppypocket!!
Jun 07, 2012