Kasteelbier Donker

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

Serve in Trappist glass, Tulip, Tumbler

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Pours dark brown with a thin head. The aroma is alcohol and raisins. Sweet and smooth, with a good bit of raisin and licorice in the flavor.

750ml bottle, cork is dated Mar. 2004. Malty, sweet and fruity aroma, toffeeish, sugary and lightly bready with notes of red grape, black cherry, plum and raisin. Deep mahogany color, initial pour is clear with a fine, uneven, light tan head and sheets of fine lace. Flavor profile is predominantly malty, full of brown sugary sweetness with vinous and lightly musty accents, finishing with a noticeably alcoholic, spicy tinge. Palate is smooth, sticky and warming, low in effervescence with a body that is quite full. Interesting but not a lot of complexity noted here.

Bottle. Dark brown colour with a huge moslty lasting light brown head. Aroma and taste of sweet malts caramel, fruits and spices.

Anno 2005, dark brown mahogany color, with some reddish highlights, with a beige head, but falling quickly, fruity nose of plums, raisins, dates, hint of molasses, brown sugar, toasted malt, with a port cherryish accent, sweet malty aroma follows through on a full-bodied palate with a smooth sweet malty, syrupy, fruity character of plums, raisins, dates, with some roasted, caramelized malts, with a nice port-like flavor, hint of molasses, brown sugar,leading towards a sweet alcoholic warmth malty finish.

Dark brown almost black with fast dissolving light brown head. Sweet caramel malt aroma. Sour caramel ends with a tongly sweet malt. Awesome flavor combination

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.