Kasteel Rouge

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

Serve in Flute, Shaker

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Fruity, red, clear, medium sweetness, lightly bitter, lightly sour, light body, thin feel, average carbonation, long finish,

Sweet cherry nose with subtle notes of brown sugar. Deep reddish brown with no head. Sweet yet with a snappy tartness. Medium bodied with a tart crisp finish.

Poured from an 11.2 ounce bottle thanks to weihenweizen. Lours a darker brown to amber color with a beige to lightly pink head of foam. Aroma is rich, sweet black cherries. Nearly tart, but mostly sweet and fruity. The aroma makes me think of a Black Cherry Warhead candy. Taste very sweet and fruity. Is this a cherry Dr. Pepper? I could easily be convinced that it was. I really like this beer. It is a very good interpretation of an black cherry.

Refrigerated 11.2 oz. brown bottle poured into a white wine glass. Pours crimson red with small/medium pink head. Medium lacing, medium body, medium carbonation, and really good cherry aroma. Taste is nice cherry up front and a slightly heavier finish. Good.

Well, it’s a cherry beer. It’s pretty well balanced, although a bit too sweet for me, but has a nice flavor profile. There’s nothing much more to say.

I poured an 11.2oz bottle into a goblet. It was bottled on 3/15/12 making it just over a year old at the time. Oddly enough, the beer did not appear to be bottle-conditioned.

Appearance: Extremely dark ruby red that appears to be opaque purple or black depending on the light. Forms a small, dark pink, soapy head which mostly evaporates and leaves trace lacing.

Smell: Dark, tart cherries. Sweet aroma but it seems authentic.

Taste: Beer nerds tend to scoff at fruit ales, unless they’re from Belgium and have a high alcoholic content - then they’re classy. If you were to give someone Kasteel Rouge blind they might mistake it for a flavored malt beverage or maybe even a soda, though it lacks any overt artificial flavoring found in those types of beverages. This beer is pretty much all cherry all the time and yet it’s delicious and highly regarded (and that’s okay with me).

Rich, sweet cherry flavor opens up the palate. It’s of the dark cherry variety and tastes natural, nothing like the cough syrup taste of many cherry wheat beers. The brewery’s website says it’s actually just a blend of their Kasteel Donker (a Belgian Strong Dark Ale) and cherry liqueur. I really can’t detect the base brew, which is ironic considering the age of the bottle (I’d think the cherry would be the flavor to fade). Almost no bitterness in the palette, which is fine. It finishes with a tart bite of cherry and a fading sourness as it goes down and finishes clean. I think the clean ending helps keep the beer interesting and prevents it from being cloying. The last swig is as tasty as the first. I wish the palette was a little more complex, for such a monotonous brew it’s delicious and never becomes wearing.

Drinkability: Though technically a big beer, Kasteel Rouge is amazingly drinkable, especially for a Belgian beer. It does not have the typical Belgian yeast character, so the mouthfeel is thinner and much more calm than you’re used to. For 8% ABV, there is no alcohol presence whatsoever, making it refreshing while in the mouth and doesn’t sit heavy on my system. If it weren’t so expensive and hard to find I’d be drinking this all the time.

Keg at Lowlander, 27th March 2013. Nice red clour and some fluffy head, cherry on the nose and a nice sour cherry taste, very drinkable

Red-brown pour from a cork and cage bottle, a hint of a reddish-white head. Nose is cherry. A hint of sour, oak and strong tart cherry. This is a refreshing fruit beer - very well done!

Bottle. Aroma is full of cherries with caramel twist. Pours dark ruby liquid, very sparkling with minimal pink head. Taste is cherry sweet, but not too much, there’s also some of the cherry sourness in it. Texture is not so sticky for such fruitful beer, which is fizzy carbonated with with full body. Finish is long and very clear - cherries all the way. Very nice experience, I’ll repeat that soon.

Draft at Cafe De La Gare. Pours clear red with a pinkish head. Aroma is massive cherries with a touch of toffee. Flavour is heavy sweet with a little acidity. Medium bodied with soft carbonation.