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

RBSG 2007. At the Happy Gnome. Dark red color with a medium head. The aroma is dead on with a cherry Jolly Rancher. Very sweet cherry taste, slightly balanced out with a bit of sourness. A good malt base keeps it from turning into cherry juice.

Tap @ Acadia Cafe, Minneapolis: Dark ebony ruby color, light head and lacing. Nose of bright fresh cherries, a bit of lip gloss and vanilla, some toast and cherry. The flavor is tart yet semisweet with the cherry flavor. Nice and assertive but sublimely balanced. Finishes soda like with a super intense face-sweating fruit tart note.

Chocolate, Cherries, Caramel aroma. Deep ruby color with no head. Taste is Black Cherries, that change taste from sweet to somewhat tart. A very good beer.

On tap at the Moondog cafe, charlotte. Pours out a dark red color with a pinkish colored head on it. Smell is full of cherries, but no real sour funk that a lambic posseses, only this isnt a lambic so that is kind of a moot point. Cherries are all in the flavor, very sweet, very easy to drink, 8% is not detected at all. This is a good rival for New Glarus BR. Really good stuff.

(Draft, labeled Kasteel Rouge) Pours a ruby body with a spare white head. Aroma of black cherries. Flavor of sweet cherries with a dry finish.

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.

On tap at Eulogy. The pour was red with no head. Very pretty beer. The nose was sweet and tart cherries with an underlaying malt character. Basically same with the flavor. A bit heavy on the body with lots of carbonation to contain it. Balanced finish. Very interesting beer.