Kasteelbier Donker

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

A brew dominated by dark fruit, and sweetness, alcohol was well hidden, but still noticable, just too sweet for me on this day, I will let it warm up more next time, I think it would improve that way for me, still good, but not my favorite. brewed 2004.

Bottled. A very dark brown coloured beer with a purple hue and barely any head. The aroma is vinuous with heavy fruit notes - plums and prunes. The taste is very sweet and fruity; maybe too sweet. The alcohol is not as obvious as one would expect, but the sugary sweetness is. A nice sipping beer but easy on the sugariness guys.

[bottle from Pelgrom] Aroma is like a moist Jamaica cake, big and malty, caramel aromas, some sherry, some dark fruit. full bodied and sweet with some alcohol in the finish.

Bottle at Brick Store Decatur GA. Pours medium to dark brown with good tan head. Lots of caramel malt and dark fruits in the aroma. Flavor is much the same. Let this one warm up, otherwise the alcohol is a little overpowering. The flavors all blend so well. Very nice.

The cork says 01-2004, so I’m assuming this is from January 04, but you never know with the metric system. Opens with a pop and glugs out of the bottle uninterestingly, leaving a dark russet beer with almost no head, which is odd for a Belgian. Very sweet, fruity aroma of fig, plum, and dates with a fairly hefty alcohol backing. Light yeasty and candi-sugary notes. The flavor falls short of the great aroma with overpowering sweetness up front and some alcohol on the dry finish. The middle is fruity and slightly phenolic. The alcohol is forgivable, with this one weighing in at 11%, but you’d think with all the sweetness they could hide it a little bit better. Decent thick mouthfeel. Somewhat over-carbonated; it hurts the tongue after a while.

Bottle. Aroma is OK malty, though not very powerful. Almost black colour, very small head. Very malty flavour, and very peppery. Not excactly thick mouthfeel, but it does give the impression. Caramelly aftertaste.

Bottle at The Bishops Arms on Västra Hamngatan in Gothenburg, Sweden. Dark non-see-through color and a brown head. acid and a bit alcoholic scent, fruity taste

When I opened this bottle the cork was dated 11/2003 so this one had some age on it. Almost no head on initial pour but some light carbonation and lacing was visible. Very strong beer with very high level of residual sugars. sweet port like quality. extremely complex flavors with current, apple cider, spice and tasting like it had been aged in oak. Also hints of acidity maybe from the long age. Definitely a sipping beer to be enjoyed like a fine port