Updated notes 10/31/21 This is the bottled pictured. Best Before 24/11/2025. Just about 11 years since I made the original notes below. I’ve drunk this beer a few times in between, but without additional notes. Pour looks more black, and the head and retention are both better than the original notes. Again, not quite as sweet as one might think, and it does maintain that burned, almost licorice element. In fact, the licorice notes are strong here. Smooth, still very drinkable, the beer warms...
Notes on beers brewed by
Brouwerij Van Honsebrouck N.V.
Bacchus
12.7 oz, mini-champagne bottle, complete with green glass and dimpled bottom. Very different to the current picture in the BA db. Thick glass with black foiled neck and neck label. Bottle has a confusing date. It literally says "Bottled On", 090414 which would suggest the 9th of April 2014, i.e about four years FROM now! I guess it must mean "Best Before" unless this beer WAS actually bottled 96 years ago!! Mid-brown pour with some good clarity and plenty of persistent, fine carbonation. A...
St. Louis Gueuze Fond Tradition
Mini-champagne, green glass, dimpled bottom and gold foiled neck. Green's on Buford, Atlanta, GA, USA. Light, honey colored body with some nice dense head and some pretty good retention and even a touch of lace. Some spotty head on the surface. Nose is a standard, lightly sinus clearing acidity with green apples. Obviously a pretty acidic profile with a lively, highly carbonate mouthfeel which adds to the experience. Finish is fairly short, clean and shows some sodium hydrogen carbonate....
Kasteel Rouge
I've enjoyed the Kasteel range in the past because they have been realy quite sweet and I enjoy that characteristic, so I thought this would be the same. I was not disappointed. 750 mL bottle, corked & caged from Green's, Ponce, Atlanta, GA, USA. $6.99 (I think). Green bottle, with black foil on the neck. Nice looking presentation. Pour is a truly attracive deep burgandy color with a nice lively head that fades to give a nice thin film on the surface of the beer. A little lace. To me this beer...
Kasteel Donker
$3.99 special price for a 750 mL bottle at Whitlock Package, Whitlock Avenue, Marietta, GA, USA. Poured into the Duvel tulip. Champagne bottle presentation going beyond just corked and caged with gold foil down the length of the neck and with a dimpled bottom of the bottle. Corked has 11-2003 on it so this is close to three years old. Apart from the color (another dirty brown opaque, Dubbel type pour) it looks great. BIg head and great lacing. If this had the color of a Belgian Pale I would...
St. Louis Framboise
My guess is, is that lots of people will not like this much. First off this is a VERY sweet beer. I like that, many will not. I like this type of beer for an occasional change of pace. Truth be known, it's really a girly beer, but every once in a while I don't mind something like it. I'm giving it a 5.0 for drinkability, BUT only on the understanding that even for me, in the wrong circumstances it could also be a 2.0! Pour is certainly red, but it goes from a dark red when the oversized...
Kasteel Blond
=== Updated Review 01/08 === New presentation with a black foiled neck and a new, updated label. Still in the corked & caged, dimple-bottomed, champagne style, heavy green glass bottle. Cork says bottled 06/2007. Beer seems a tad less aggressive. Still listed as 11.0%, but much less obvious. Also not so sweet, and not so alcoholic. A more subtle experience than before, not sure I like it quite as much. === Original Review 09/05 === Nice presentation in the large 750 mL green bottle with the...