Kasteel Kriek

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

Pours a very dark red, almost grape juice like. Red crown of head, decent lace saves this from just being average. Smells of cherries, cherries, cherry juice, and can’t really smell anything else. More of a sweet than sour scent. Taste is similar with a bit of a dry bite. This isn’t nearly as much of a sugar bomb as a Lindeman’s kriek, but it is on the low end of that ball park. Good, a little bready aftertaste. Mouth is a little syrupy which is kind of nice as I am used to these type of beers being very thin and bubbly. Good stuff, especially considering a Lindemans is approximately the same price for a small bottle as this was for a 750ml. I curve a bit downward on the overall score as it became a little too sweet after a short time.

Bottle: Ruby pour with a pinkish wispy head. Sweet aroma of black cherry juice, almond paste, marzipan. Slick mouthfeel. Very cherryish flavor- quite sweet. Black cherry candy, tons of marzipan sweetness, bit it’s natural and works wells as a one dimensional sweet digestive dessert.

Had a huge glass of this. Pours a very deep ruby red color with minimal pink foamy head. Aroma was dark cherries, brown sugar, and raisins. Flavor has a malty sweet base, with notes of spice and raisins. Sweet/tart cherries take over then with a boozy sweet finish.

Thanks to the RB crew in Queens! Bottled on 4/23/07. Pours a deep ruby red with a light pink head. Aroma is black cherry extract and almond paste. I’d say black cherry cough medicine, but it’s more potent and syrupy than actual medicinal qualities. It tastes like a black cherry jolly rancher. Sweet, slightly tart, and syrupy. Moderate carbonation. Very good, although figuring out a way to bring down the syrupy qualities would do this wonders.

750 ml cork and caged bottle from Spirits Red Bank. To make this one short and sweet this one smelled nice but tasted like cough syrup. Aroma had a good dose of cherry tartness and was slightly sour which was pleasant. The flavor had fake artificial cherry in front of a big alcohol taste which made it unpleasant. Come for the aroma but leave before the flavor.

33cl bottle, labelled as Kasteel Rouge, pours a deep red with a fine fast disappearing head. Nose is sweet cherries, almonds, maybe a little baked crust, the palate is dry cherries with alcohol overhead to start with, turning sweet - almost, but not quite, too sweet - in the finish. A nice kriek but fairly basic.

The pour is a turbid brown with red on the highlights and a head that was tan with some pink tint to it. The aroma is cherry. Tart and sweet at the same time, some woody, earthy notes as it approached room temperature. The flavor is cherry juice with it steering more towards sweet than tart. A bit of balanced wood and caramel came out as it opened up. The mouthfeel is almost medium in body with a surprisingly dry finish.

One of the most hedonistic fruit beers I have encountered. Amazing garnet hue with a pink tinged head. The aromas of fresh crushed cherries envelope the senses. One fights to find the beer in this elixir, it’s tough. Sweet cherries cover the tongue as a seductive acidity gives some lift to the palate. No hops at all. Cherry, cola in fact, finishes and leaves the palate with a crimson kriek stain. Amazingly balanced, the abv. is almost undetectable until the back of the throat. Hedonism at it’s best. Amazing with or as dessert. Subsitute for Ruby port. 93