Kasteel Kriek

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

on tap. last night at the full house card club in plzen. at least i assume this is it as it is advertised as full house cherry ale and the manager said it came from kasteel. anyways, rich ruby colour with a huge and lasting off-pink head. some nutty, marzipan notes in an otherwise sherbetty-sweet aroma. plenty of intense cherry sweetness but in a good way that reminded me of new glarus belgian red - some vanilla and marzipan with a lightly tart apple skin finish

Kasteel rouge...if that is your real name. Pours a beautiful deep red with a pink head that quickly dissipates, yet never disappears. First impression is good until I give it a whiff. Strong jolly rancher fake cherry smell...not a good sign. First sip is much the same and a real put-off. Luckily, I set this down and forgot about it for awhile and came back. Much better after it warmed up quite a bit, but that fake smell never left.

Bottle from Whole Foods. Super deep purple/ruby in color. Pinkish head. Sweet, slightly tart cherry aroma. Nice flavors. Great balance of sweetness and tartness. Some alcohol is noticeable. Quite a tasty fruit beer.

The color was deep/ruby. The head was thin, pink, and fizzy. The aroma was cherry jolly ranchers, sweet, and acidic. The flavor was very strong sweet cherry, spice, and musk. The palate was thick-bodied. The finish was sweet and cherry.

Carolina Crew tasting! Bottle courtesy of Todd! thanks! An unclear dark red beer with no head. The aroma is sweet and dominated by cherries. The flavor is sweet with notes of cherries and wood and an extremely dry end. Lovely. Ludens cough drop

Bu à Brouhaha (Montréal) le 4/9/08, en bouteille de 330 ml, sous le nom de Kasteel Rouge. Rouge bourgogne peu claire, très peu de collet. Arome de cerise malté, petite notes de vinègre fruité. Goût de jus de cerise pétillant et légèrement épicé, pas trop sûrette. Avant les bière aux cerises n’était ma tasse de thé, mais là si c’est bien faite (comme celle là), mmmmmmmmmm!

Poured a dark deep brown into the glass. Aroma was big cherries and belgian sweetness. Taste was big cherries as well, kind of took over in fact. Somebody said it tasted liked cough syrup, I can’t agree completely, but it did have a medicinal quality to it. I thought it was a fun beer to drink though.

750ml corked bottle. I clearly remember arguing with a hostel owner in Tongeren whether Kasteel actually even makes a Kriek beer, so I have my doubts that this one is widely available in Belgium. This is certainly one of my favorite Kriek beers out there. Deep cherry red-brown. Seriously murky. Very mulled taste. The taste is sweet and almost mead like to me, with a thick cherry sweetness. This one’s carbonation is fairly mellow for being bottled 17 months back, but certainly not flat by any means. The cherry juice added really shines through in the aroma. The alcohol level is just right, not too much and certainly not too little. Classic Belgian beer.