Kasteelbier Donker

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

Serve in Trappist glass, Tulip, Tumbler

send corrections   |   shelftag   |   edit barcodes   |   add pic

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.

11.2 ounce bottle into chalice, bottled on 090901. Pours fairly clear super dark brown color with a small off white head that recedes quickly to a ring of lace. Small amounts of spotty glass lacing; with slight carbonation streaming up from the bottom. Aromas of big raisin, grape, prune, molasses, caramel, candi sugar, red wine, bread, and slight yeast spiciness. Some nice and well balanced aromas with good strength. Taste of big raisin, grape, prune, caramel, molasses, pear, apple, toffee, candi sugar, bread, red wine, earth, and slight yeast spiciness. Lingering notes of raisin, prune, molasses, caramel, bread, toffee, and earth on the finish for a good bit. Very sweet with minimal spiciness; but it is not cloying at all. Fantastic flavor balance and good complexity. Light-medium carbonation and medium-full bodied; with a nice creamy and fairly slick mouthfeel. Alcohol is very well hidden with only a very slight warming noticed on the finish. Overall this is a fantastic Belgian quad! Big flavors with good balance and complexity; and very smooth to sip on for being 11%. Loved this one, and will get it again sometime.

Serving: Draft at Fire Works in Leesburg. Aged batch from 2009. It pours dark brown with a small, light tan head. The nose is full of dried stone fruit, a little spice cake, and a light caramel. The flavor seems to follow suit with a good dose of sweetness, somewhat surprising for a brew this old. I would think some of that sugar would have attenuated out. Full bodied but the carbonation and alcohol does a nice job of drying things out on the back end. Certainly tasty.

16/V/2012 - 33cl bottle @ De Ambassadeur (Terneuzen) - BB: III/17 (2012-509)

Clear dark brown beer, nice beige irregular head, unstable, little adhesive. Aroma: sweet caramel, sweet malts, pretty faint, little grassy. MF: ok carbon, medium body. Taste: sweet caramel, sugary, some milk chocolate, dried fruits, ripe banana. Aftertaste: sweet caramel, bitter hops, sugary, overripe fruits, banana. This one was probably drunk way too early (my guess: <2 months old). Calls for a re-rating.

330ml bottle from Bierzwerg. Clear amber colour with small head. Sweet, malty, alcohol well hidden.

Deep joy, another beer presented to me to pour by my daughter at her Belgian beer and food night (in Jan 2008). Poured into the lovely correct goblet style glass with the castle design on the base of the glass stem. The glass really sets it off nicely. Very dark, almost forbodingly dark, with a rich biege head, wonderful. Held up to the light you can see it is clear and clean, even though it is so dark in appearance. The whole experience was good, the aroma was a dark chocolate cake mix with currents, the taste not far off the same. Rich and smooth feel to it, very drinkable even at 11%, we polished off 4 (small) bottles on the night.

Bottle sample as a bonus beer at the Smuttynose tasting at Ale Wine & Spirits on 4/27/12. Clear red/copper pour with a thin beige head. Aroma of sweet malt, banana, toffee, almond and cherry. Malty and caramelly flavor with banana, cherry and almond before a creamy sweet finish. Very nice. Dogbrick had been telling me for years to try this one, but I figured it wouldn’t be much different than any other Belgian Strong Dark. Really digging the cherry/almond character I’m getting in the nose and flavor and that truly sets it apart for me.

Aroma a cafe, vainilla y madera, así como una acidez que refleja la frescura de dicha cerveza. La cerveza tiene una apariencia cremosa, color obscuro con destellos rojizos y una pequeña corona de espuma que se diluye rápidamente. Al probar este elixir hecho cerveza la primer impresión es de una cerveza sumamente dulce en virtud de su elevado gggporcentaje alcohólico. Sin embargo, una vez que el liquido pasa por la garganta el sabor dulce persiste, pero da paso a sabores a maltas tostadas, cafe, chocolate y vainilla, saboreandose una cremosidad absoluta y un aterciopelado final. En general es una cerveza de gran calidad a pesar de su elevado alcohól, la cual debe ser degustada con tranquilidad debido a sus 11 grados de alcohol, así como a su dulzura que podría llegar a ser algo empalagosa si no se toma con su debida calma.

Bottle pours medium brown with frothy off-white head. Aroma fruits, malts. Taste very sweet with caramel, malts, sugar, dark fruits and spices. Palate moderate with a carbonation tingle. Alcohol fairly well disguised but noticeable on the finish. Finish with just a touch of dullness but mainly a continuation of the sweet flavor.

I like sweet beers but this was almost too sweet. I see a lot of varying scores which is reflective of the taste which will not appeal to everyone. I id enjoy it though.

If beer and red wine had a baby it would be this beer. It is very oddly enjoyable even thouby i don’t like wine very much.

330 ml bottle via Belgianshop. Pours a nut brown with light lingering head. Aromas of malt, tobacco, and vanilla with spicy hints. Roasted malt, dried fruits, cinnamon, and brown sugar to taste. Subtle for 11%. Complex. A very good beer. (Bottle cellared for a year. Much better than first samples.)