Kasteelbier Donker

11.3oz bottle. Dated 03-2010. Served in my NB worthy snifter. Dark red, nearly brown color, small head (probably due to my careful pour). Aroma is strong malt, deep, dark, overripe fruits (plums, prunes). Taste is oaky vanilla, malt, dark overripe fruits, and yeast with a lingering sweetness and fruitiness that is finished at the end by a moderate alchol warmth. It has been a while since I have had a strong belgian like this (not much different than an abt/quad) and I find myself loving them. The one bad thing about the beer it is clarity, where is the yeast? Mouthfeel is thick and chewy.

750 ml 2003 bottle. Poured medium cloudy brown with a nice huge head that left amazing lacing throughout the glass. Aromas were very sweet. Caramel and dark fruit. Raisin and wood. Flavors were similar with a lot of added alcohol warming. I thought it was pretty good.

"01-2004 This really wasn’t a double to me. Poured a medium brown color with and okay head. Aroma was of caramel and alcohol. Flavor of caramel malts and apples, and something that made it way way to sweet and ALCOHOL for a double it was overbearing. There also was a little wood flavor to this."

Vintage: 01-2004 bottling. Nothing special here. Could have aged a lot more for the sweetness and abv. Was expecting a double until the first whiff. Poured a caramel brown color with a decent head in the tulip glass, but not so much in the abbey chimay glass. The aroma was of caramel and vinous notes. The flavor was caramel malts first and foremost, lots of sweetness. The vinous and apples, and dark fruits came through a bit (in that order), but the alcohol dominated along with the sweetness. Aftertaste was oak-like. The mouthfeel was thin for a Belgian Strong, decent carbonation. Nothing to return to, although the pricing wasn’t bad.

From 11.2 oz. stubby brown bottle with a coded bottled/freshness date on the lower right side of label, served in a chalice, sampled at cellar temperature. Made a good appearance, poured a hazy red hued brown with a foamy beige head that settled into a thin lacing, medium carbonation. Had a nose of raisins, apples, brown sugar and caramelized malts with whiffs of alcohol at the fringes. A crisp and smooth medium bodied mouth feel, good sipping drinkability. Raisin fruity and caramelized sugary, a crisp maltiness, a spicy alcohol warmth that endures though out the taste and lingers in the aftertaste, finish with a sweet raisin fruitiness. A nice quadrupel ale, tasty and dangerously quaffable.

Draught at Kulminator as Kasteel Bruin. Dark brown with a large creamy light brown head, mostly diminishing, good lacings. Aroma heavy malty (brown fruit), light hoppy. Flavor heavy sweet, light bitter, in a good balance. Medium body, soft carbonated. The alcohol is felt.

Bottle via trade with radiomgb - Thanks Jeff! - Pours a dark brown with a creamy tan head that settles back to a film and laces in layers from there. Aroma is big of candi sugar, raisin, some corriander, and maple syrup. Flavor is very sweet, raisins, candi sugar, syrup, plums, molasses. This and syrupy on the palate. A sweet lovers delight. A little over the top sweet for me though. Not much alcohol found til the warmth on the finish though.

Pours a very dark red with a medium off-white head. Aroma is very complex with a whole lot of fruits and spices, so much that I couldn’t isolate any of them. In mouth it feels like a very strong cherry cough-syrup. Doesn’t sound very appealing said like that but it wasn’t bad at all. Very sweet (too sweet) and syrupy with a mix-bag of fruits thrown in. Alcohol is present but not as much as one would expect from an 11%, it is actually appropriate to support the intense taste. With all its sugar it could be quite popular with young college student and at 11% abv it could helped maintain a 4.0 average … in blood-alcohol level.