Appearance - 4 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 6 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 6
Bottled 02-2002
Hazy blond color; poor head. Strong sour aroma, lemon, pine needles, plastic, esters, hydrocarbons. Aggressive sourness, citrusy, but really too short, and a residual sweetness. A bit corky and soapy.
fiulijn (28382) reviewed Kasteel Tripel from Brouwerij Vanhonsebrouck 22 years ago
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 5 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 7
Golden color, poor head. Alcohol nose, light fruit (peach). Sweet, some maltiness, light cork, but too alcoholic. Simple final.
Appearance - 4 | Aroma - 3 | Flavor - 3 | Texture - 4 | Overall - 3.5
Bottled. Deep red. Mature raspberry aroma. Super sweet, has more in common with concentrated raspberry lemonade than beer. Sticky finish.
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 6.5
Slightly hazy yellow color, medium creamy white head. Quite sweet for a gueuze. Easy to drink. Quite ok.
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 4 | Overall - 6.5
Fruity, a bit spiced (vanilla) and woody nose. Golden amber, creamy head. Wooden taste, some fruits, grass when exhaling. Body a bit too light. Alcoholic sharp aftertaste an the start later a bit more mellow.
Appearance - 10 | Aroma - 6 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 7
The aroma is very sweet of cherries. The color is a clear blood red and it has a beutiful lasting pink head. The flavor is very sweet and dominated by cherries with slight sour notes in the background, that draws the saliva out. It contains no sharpness, so only the sourness reveals that it has been wild fermented. A very sweet kriek - but it still retains some of the characteristics of krieks.
Dogbrick (24210) reviewed Kasteel Donker from Brouwerij Vanhonsebrouck 22 years ago
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 9 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 10 | Overall - 9
Sampled at From The Vine monthly beer tasting Oct 13th, 2003: This was probably my favorite beer of the tasting and a pleasant surprise. This is the beer Chimay Bleu wants to be. Pours a brownish-amber color with a medium thick beige head. Lots going on in the aroma - fruit, malt, port wine and caramel. Nicely rich body with a complex blend of malt, grain, chocolate, raisins and spicy alcohol. The finish is sweet toffee and malt. Outstanding.
fiulijn (28382) reviewed Kasteel Donker from Brouwerij Vanhonsebrouck 22 years ago
Appearance - 10 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8
2023-08-29, bb 10-2009, vint 2004, 19 years old, 7-4-8-4-17=40
Sweet, good body, malt, caramel, warming alcohol. The carbonation is almost gone. It doesn't even feel old; apart from the loss of bitterness. Liquor. Note: there is deposit in the bottle, but completely stuck to the bottom, the beer poured clear. I would still drink this with pleasure.
2023-08-24, bottle from Leclerc, Nice, France, 7-5-8-4-16=40
When it pours, it's fizzy, not thick. Mild aroma of dark sugars and malt. The body is there, it's quite sweet, with nice caramel and brown sugar flavour; not much bitterness, and it hides the alcohol quite well. It's still a very valid option in this category.
2018-03-31, bottle, vintage 2004, 14 years old, 6-4-7-3-15=35
Clean brown color, no head. At first the aroma shows slight oxidization, but it fades quickly; some chestnuts. It's very sweet, but the mouthfeel is lean, not thick; quite good malt depth, almost no bitterness, and pleasant alcohol warmth.
For it's age it's remarkably good.
2003-10-12, bottle, 6-4-8-4-15=37
Clean dark amber color (filtered beer, no longer bottle conditioned). Some malt aroma; light chocolate. Peculiar mouthfeel, difficult to evaluate; malty and very sweet; caramel and light liquorice later. Pleasant to drink, but quite poor work, many things can be improved.
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 6.5
I think this is a Belgium Sour Ale. The aroma is slightly sour and a little sweet - a good aroma for the type. The color is a deep red and it has a small fast disappearing head. The flavor is sweet, slightly sour and prickling. The flavor is also rich on fruit, sharp from the wild fermentation and a little metallic. A little thin for the type - is that because of the low ABV. It is the worste Belgian Red Ale I've tried - but still a good beer.
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 7
The aroma dominated by yeast with notes of oranges and coriander. The color is an unclear orange and it has a beutiful but disappearing head. The flavor is sweet with alcohol prickling the tongue and notes of oranges, coriander, and cinnamon. The sweetness lingers on the lips. A fine triple.