Kasteelbier Donker

Brewed by Brouwerij Van Honsebrouck
Style: Belgian Strong Ale
Ingelmunster, Belgium

Very deep and dark red brown color. Small but lacy beige head. Sweet malty aroma is wine-like with berries. Strong flavor is sweet malty, sugary and cherry. Quite full-bodied, sugary and smoothly carbonated palate. Alcohol doesn’t taste but it certainly will be felt.

Bottle (2006): Pours a cloudy brown with a lingering tan head. The aroma is sweat with a hint of cinnamon and spice. The flavor is sweet, with lots of malt, caramel, dark fruit and cola. The alcohol doesn’t overwhelm which is surprising considering it’s 11%. The palate is clean an fits a Belgian well but overall this is unbalanced and too sweet to impress me.

Bottle from Party Source, KY. Poured clear brown color with medium frothy off-white head that was mostly lasting with good lacing. Aroma was complex sweet malty yeasty. Medium body with lively carbonation. Medium to heavy sweet dark fruit flavor with medium sweet with small alcohol bite finish of moderate to long duration. Good brew.

Extreme toffe taste and malty. Good appearence, small head but good color. Brown murky body. Great and lasting sweet flavor. Soft on carbonation and a creamy texture. Great beer.

330ml bottle from GM Liquors, Bakersfield; Bottled on 3/28/07; Nose of candi-sugar, caramel, and a ltlle bit of prunes; clear, dark red-brown with a medium, glass-lacing, beige head; flavor is sweet raisins, yeast, and caramel; finish is weeet and alcohol warmth.

Out of the small bottle. Pours a dark brown (almost black) with medium head and decent lacing that lingers a bit. The aroma is of cinnamon, dark fruits (namely plum), and carmelly candy sugar. The flavor is incredibly complex with the palate morphing through various flavors. The nose is of a big malty mouthfeel which gives way to a sweet unmistakably Belgian flavor and then it finishes strong with some tartness and a bit of alcohol. There also seems to be a good deal of carbonation.

Pours light amber with faint fruity aroma.dry cola flavor with plums but refreshing a d not sticky sweet. Very drinkable. Could have use just al little more butte. But ots nicely balanced . I ’dso it again.

No. Many strong ales do a wonderful job of hiding thier especially strong alcohol content. This ’Donker’ fails miserably. Far too strong, this complex mess is undrinkable.