Kasteelbier Donker

Spectacular. Sweet aroma, hops. Pours an opaque ruby brown, off tan head. Very sweet but extremely enjoyable palate and flavour. 11%? Alcohol is undetectable. Smooth sweet delivery. Might be too sweet for some people, but this beer should be slowly savoured and enjoyed.

Thanks to Pigfoot for this one, shared with Wawood, Beermatrix, et al. As mentioned below, rather late in the evening. My notes say "sweet sweet, finish dry and clean with no alcohol present, Belgian candi and yeast flavors on top." A winner for my sweet tooth.

3/20/06 Re-rate: Had forgotten I had had this before, even considering I had it in the same place the 2nd time, the Blue Nile in Mnpls and considering it was again the final beer of the evening. This time it was on tap, and based upon the ratings, had a considerably better experience the second time around. It was still very sweet but didn’t seem overly so this time. Mostly opaque body (dark, dark, reddish, brown hue. Tan head but diminishes fully. Wonderful and surely highly caloric. 2/17/05: Bottle, shared with Beermatrix, ChrisPants, Steorn(BA) and Pigfoot (courtesy of Pigfoot). Last beer of the evening so the palate may have been a little shot. Belgian wheat aroma, surprising for a red bodied beer. Then at 3rd or 4th whiff, I started getting similar impressions as the few Russian dark beers I’ve had (Baltika 6, Stepan Razin Porter). Beermatrix mentioned he thought it smelled like a Cantillon. Red body, nice white, beautiful lace. Exemplary appearance. Overy sweet. Could make for a good dessert wine. But it was too much for me at that point in the evening. Ar 6, ap 5, fl 8, pal 4, ov 17.

Bottle (Kasteel Bruin-Brune). Clean brown, little brownish head. Malty sweet aroma. Caramel/malty taste with a bit bitter finish. Good feeling in the mouth, taste of alcohol is well hidden.

Had it as Kasteel Brune ... Clean brown hue light very sweet maple syrup aroma honey with alcoholic hints Flavour is very sweet brown sugar malty flavours sticky palate...

Pours a syrupy reddish brown nectar. Little head and no retention. Pruny sweetness. Port and caramal notes. No counterpoint to the sweetness. Thick mouthfeel and zippy after taste. Cheers!

Bottled. Pours a dark brown colour with a reddish tone. Almost no head. Aroma is dominated by maltiness, molasses and sweetness. At first, the maltiness in the taste has a caramalty note. It´s also pretty sweet. Cloyingly sweet, I thought, maybe a bit prematurely. Later the sweetness turns to an acceptable level. It´s also quite caramelly. It´s a nice sipping beer, but hardly one of my favoruites, though still okay.

This is an amazing looking beer. It probably looks and smells better than it actually is, but it’s still an excellent beer. It is very dark and malty, with a fantastic sweet nose. If anything, it’s perhaps a bit too sweet and treacly, but it still has an excellent array of fruits, caramel, and sugar. Yummy.