Kasteel Kriek

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

Just a wonderful smell; looks fantastic. Very dominated by cherry in all aspects. Pretty sweet in the finish, but overall I like it. Just a bit too sweet.

11.2oz bottle, "Kasteel Rouge", courtesy of hopscotch. Thanks, Eric! Pours a deep burgundy color, like black cherry juice; light pink head with medium-sized bubbles retained at the edges; patchy lacing. Strong, sweet aroma of cherry juice, black cherries, and sugar water; generous cherriness, but to the point of being cherry juice perfume. Medium mouthfeel: upfront is cherry juice and black cherries pits, the slightest tartness, but the mid-palate is lacking any significant contributing belgian character; a better commercial description would be "cherry juice w/ belgian ale and cherries added", or just "cherry juice." But good cherry juice. Medium finish, showing red fruits and a touch of dough (for me: the first and only hint of a belgian ale lurking underneath).

Bottled 04-2001 drank 05-2003. Reddish brown color, with a thin head. Huge cherry aroma with a little bit of yeast. Starts sweet and ends acidic and sour. Not very complex but it is easy to drink and enjoyable.

Bottled April 2007, Sampled December 2007
Pours with a pink hued, tan colored head that starts out at a fat-one-finger in thickness. The beer sits in my glass a very dark, opaque, concentrated red / amber color, but shows a brilliantly clear, dark ruby color when held up to the light. Wow, this is definitely a cherry beer; aromas of cherry skins, candied cherry pulp, concentrated cherry notes similar to cough syrup are all quite noticeable. This smells like a real cherry syrup or candied and by real I mean there is clearly real cherries used here. There is really not much in the way of hop or malt aromatics here.

Sweet tasting, though perhaps not quite as much as the aroma would have suggested. There is also a nice fruit tartness to this beer that helps to offset the sweetness some. Medium bodied, but both the cherry flavors and the tartness seem to make this beer quite drinkable, much more than one would expect from an 8% beer. This finishes with a light tannic, cherry skin character that imparts a touch of astringency along with the tart cherry bite. Carbonation & carbonic acid add a bit more bite and a touch of a frothy feeling to this brew as well. Fleshy cherry flavors, a hint of vanilla and a touch of woodiness (pit or cherry skin derived). The hop character is practically non-existent (perhaps some slight bitterness) and the malt only plays a supporting role to deliver the cherry flavors.

This is definitely way too easy drinking, not so sweet that it becomes cloying this beer just disappears from my glass. Very simplistic in its one dimensional cherry character, but still certainly enjoyable if you like cherries; I certainly had no problem consuming my 330ml bottle of this.

Corked bottle, labeled as ’rouge’. Pours like a fine shirazz, deep ruby with violet highlights and a rosy red bacbone. The pour yields a surprisingly thick and vibrant head of magenta. Aroma is a velvety ribbon of chocolate-coated cherries after one takes a bite of half the candy, leaving the drippings to fumigate the immediate area with hints of cherry tree bark and oak cask. Flavor is a tingly melding of cherry juice and a Sprite knock-off, almost like a cherry juice mimosa. A lingering dark cherry trail is left along the tongue so other taste buds can find thei way in the future. A very nice and refreshing beer; highly recommended.

11.2 ounce bottle from In Vino Veritas in Keswick, VA. Pours a dark, clear ruby color with a thin fizzy head. Poor retention and lacing. Aroma is sweet cherries, candylike and reminding me of Luden’s cough drops. Taste is tart, sweet cherries along with some other berries. Medium bodied. Fairly one dimensional and more like a soda than a beer.

On tap at Stone. Dark reddish brown with a pink creamy head. strong cherry/raspberry aroma. Cherry candy taste and a bright palate.

Bottle courtesy of secret santa: Poured a deep red color ale with a light pink color head with average retention and minimal lacing. Aroma consists of syrupy cherry with too much of sweet cloying notes. Taste is also dominated by the extremely sweet cherry syrup with some very light malt notes. Full cloying sweet body with some average carbonation and no apparent alcohol. Too sweet for my taste buds and too much of the fake cherry syrup comes out for me to enjoy this beer.