Kasteel Kriek

Brewed by Brouwerij Van Honsebrouck
Style: Fruit Beer
Ingelmunster, Belgium

NorCal December ’07 - Not sure if it was meant to turn out this way, but we must have sampled 6 or 7 difference cherry/raspberry themed beers this night. This beer is just a notch better than the sweetened sugar-bomb that is otherwise known as Lindemans. In this beer, the aroma is full on sweet dark cherries. Like stuffing your head in a barrel full of cherries and cherry juice. Flavor is...suprise!..cherries. But there is a bit of alcohol present along with light spicy character that was hard to distinguish but clearly there. Thankfully not syrupy like Lindemans, this is light and evervescent. Overall, a nice beer. I would think one would be my limit.

Pours a very dark red with a thin light pink head. Sweet and sour cherry notes. Cherries are all over the flavor but nicely balance sweet to bitterness. Syrupy but velvet smooth mouth feel. Medium body. Interesting and very enjoyable beer.

Bottled April 2007, Sampled December 2007
Pours with a pink hued, tan colored head that starts out at a fat-one-finger in thickness. The beer sits in my glass a very dark, opaque, concentrated red / amber color, but shows a brilliantly clear, dark ruby color when held up to the light. Wow, this is definitely a cherry beer; aromas of cherry skins, candied cherry pulp, concentrated cherry notes similar to cough syrup are all quite noticeable. This smells like a real cherry syrup or candied and by real I mean there is clearly real cherries used here. There is really not much in the way of hop or malt aromatics here.

Sweet tasting, though perhaps not quite as much as the aroma would have suggested. There is also a nice fruit tartness to this beer that helps to offset the sweetness some. Medium bodied, but both the cherry flavors and the tartness seem to make this beer quite drinkable, much more than one would expect from an 8% beer. This finishes with a light tannic, cherry skin character that imparts a touch of astringency along with the tart cherry bite. Carbonation & carbonic acid add a bit more bite and a touch of a frothy feeling to this brew as well. Fleshy cherry flavors, a hint of vanilla and a touch of woodiness (pit or cherry skin derived). The hop character is practically non-existent (perhaps some slight bitterness) and the malt only plays a supporting role to deliver the cherry flavors.

This is definitely way too easy drinking, not so sweet that it becomes cloying this beer just disappears from my glass. Very simplistic in its one dimensional cherry character, but still certainly enjoyable if you like cherries; I certainly had no problem consuming my 330ml bottle of this.

On tap at Kulminator. deep ruby red with a nice, dense pink head. Very sweet cherry aroma with a hint of marcipan. Sweet strong cherry flavours, drying up towards the finish, which is even somewhat woody. Better than expected.

On tap @ Coles Buffalo NY. Nice solid tarty Cheer aroma. Pours addep red color with a light pink head. Full tarty cherry taste. Clean & crisp. Good

(draft @ The Old Toad - Rochester, NY) Deep ruby red with a thin pink head. Aroma is a light beginning of sweet cherries followed by a big tart aroma. Flavor is very sweet and tart. The tartness of the dark cherries rolls around your tongue and mixes well with the sweeter flavors. Finishes clean and fruity. Alcohol is well hidden.

Stubby bottle pours a clear ruby body with a small and fleeting pink head. Aroma is sweet and tart cherries. Taste follows suit with more sweet and tart cherries. Just a hint of malt and hops underneath but no hint of the 8% abv. This one is all about the cherries, not much else.

Name: Kasteel Rouge
Date: November 24, 2007
Mode: Draft
Source: Brick Store Pub
Appearance: clear dark ruby red, creamy pink head, lots of speckled lace
Aroma: strong dark cherry aroma with an initial sweetness balanced by a woody tartness
Body: creamy body
Flavor: rich cherry flavor belnded with dark malts, plenty of fruity sweetness is balanced by a tart cherry skin character
Overall: the intense cherry just gets to be too much after a while
Aroma: 7/10; Appearance: 7/10; Flavor: 7/10; Palate: 7/10; Overall: 15/20
Rating: 3.7/5.0
Drinkability: 7/10
Score: **4