Kasteel Kriek

Brewed by Brouwerij Van Honsebrouck
Style: Fruit Beer
Ingelmunster, Belgium

On tap at the flying saucer in KC as ’’Kasteel Rouge.’’ Pours a deep ruby, corduroy red with a small deep pink and creamy head. Stays pretty lacy and frothy throughout the session. The aroma is definitely dominated by sweet cherries. Some caramel malts, almonds, and a sour/tart belgium woody yeast. Palate is soft and medium bodied with a nice carbonated feel. Taste is simply put, cherry sweet. Not complex in the least bit. Finishes slightly sour and acidic, but nice. Tastes more like a beer than most fruit/lambics I’ve had in the past. Overall, I’m impressed. Easy drinking and very pleasant. I wouldn’t drink more than one in a session, but it served its purpose rather well.

Very nice if you’re in the mood for something sweet. Fantastic cherry flavor, authentic, and not overdone. Bravo

On tap, Sharp Edge Creekhouse, pittsburgh, Love at first taste... great tart cherry flavor without being too boring.. nice balance

Pours a cherry/pinot noir red with close to no head. Looks like watery cough syrup. Aroma is syrupy fruit. Flavor is sweet cherry, much like cherry pie. Body is medium with little carbonation. Really good fruit beer but so sweet it is hard to drink.

On tap, Muddy Pig. Pours a deep ruby red color with minimal head. Flavor is initially dry and tart, a bit fizzy, but rolls into a mellow lingering cherry sweetness. Flavors of oak, vanilla, and port wine also present. Medium bodied, somewhat syrupy. Well done for a fruit beer.

Sampled at the Sep. Carolina Crew gathering. Light red or mahogany color. Cough syrup aroma. Very sweet cherry flavor with more cough syrup in there. Not bad, but not my thing either.

Bottled (750 ml) as Kasteel Rouge, cork marked 01/2007. Fizzy, pink head that faded quickly. Very red, clear pour. The nose was overwhlemingly cherry, much like cherry Kool-Aid. Flavor was cherry--too much cherry and not enough beer. poor balance. I am a fan of lambics with cherries added to them, but this beer lacked the wonderful lambix sourness to balance the cherry flavor and, as a result, fell short.

(Bottle). Rather disgusting cherry cough drop aroma. Color is deep red with small fizzy head. Flavor not quite as bad as the aroma. Sweet and sour cherries. I suppose one could enjoy this as a dessert beverage, but really, I have to strain to fit it within my definition of a "beer".