Kasteel Cuvée Du Chateau - Brouwerij Van Honsebrouck N.V.

dstc

Florida

3.68/5  rDev -9.4%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

Pours a dark brown with a ruby tint. Tan head falls to about nothing. Thinnest of lace.

Aroma is of sweet malts with hints of plums and raisin.

Big sweet malts up front. Big booze is next and you just can't help but notice it. Nice sweet fruits in there but alcohol is the prominent flavor.

Medium bodied and biting. Very warming.

Good brew. I love a strong, boozy beer but this is too much. Only 11% and it does not hide it well

Serving type: bottle

11-22-2010 14:09:00 | More by dstc

Pencible

Virginia

3.95/5  rDev -2.7%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

A: This poured a very dark mahogany with moderate tan head.
S: It smelled like grassy hops and sulfur, with underlying rich caramel and brown sugar and raisin, and lots of sour Belgian yeast.
T: It tasted like earthy caramel and rich brown sugar and powdered sugar and raisin, with sour Belgian yeast and a bit of floral hops and sulfur. It had a very mellow sweet and sour aftertaste.
M: It was slick and oily with moderate smooth natural carbonation.
D: This had great delicate complexity leading to delicious taste. It had great body too, and hid the alcohol amazingly well, so it was super easy to drink. But it was also good enough to sip and savor. However, there was a very unpleasant sulfur element to the scent (dominant) and taste (subtle). I'm not sure what's causing that, or if age would help that or make it worse. That's the only thing keeping this from being a top BSDA.

Serving type: bottle

11-16-2010 15:30:27 | More by Pencible

Proteus93

Virginia

4.38/5  rDev +7.9%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

I saw this in the store and noted that the description was merely a "Belgian Ale." Intrigued, I was curious as to what kind it would be... the 11% ABV suggested that perhaps it would be a quad. I chose to not look it up first and simply picked it up, as $8.49 for a bottle seemed acceptable compared to others flanking it.

A: Very dark mahogany... some ruby highlights that struggle to sneak out of the darkness... remarkably deep. Head is somewhat modest, but retains quite nicely. Somewhat creamy, leaving a bit of a clumpy sheet over the beer.

S: Dark fruit, though not quite like what you might find in a dubbel or quad, really. It's a bit plum-like, with perhaps some hints of raisin, but there are aspects of other ripe fruits that kind of give it a unique nose as far as the fruity esters go... like fresh apple and pear. I almost want to go so far as to say that imagining all of them in one mutant fruitball might be accurate, but that just sounds gross. Malts and sweet candi sugars are notable... a hint of toffee or caramel.

T: Quite similar to the aroma, and rather sweet, but it's a very positive experience. It manages to have a robust flavour which finishes remarkably dry, which makes for a very nice drinking experience. Finishes with just a little bit of bitterness that doesn't linger. Carbonation is beautiful... crisp, sparkling, and then it gives way to the dryness to finish. Alcohol is there, with a touch of pleasant warmth through the throat, and just enough to make each sip quite enjoyable. Very nicely done, and well worth every penny.

Serving type: bottle

11-04-2010 03:10:51 | More by Proteus93

bruachan

Rhode Island

4.43/5  rDev +9.1%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

attractive heavy garnet color

from distance this smells like oaky wine (and maybe something fortified like marsala). cork

ooh yeah, that's vinous: wine-like heat and corky. leather and winey fruits. tart, yeasty flavors. strong bitterness holds everything afloat, yet manages not to really diminish the strength of the wine metaphor. i suppose up until the finish my mouth can pretend the bitterness is part of the alcohol experience

minimal malt-type flavors (you know, nutty or caramel), in favor of some complex esters. blackcurrant

Serving type: bottle

10-27-2010 01:12:59 | More by bruachan

BretSikkink

Mexico

3.95/5  rDev -2.7%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4

Brown in color with a tanned head that leaves a spotty lacing. Murky towards the bottom of the bottle. Nose is hard to wrap around, somewhat light. Notes of sweet, buttery molasses and candi sugar malt. The taste is still quite sweet, but tempered somewhat by a full carbonation. Candi sugar mixes with some strong dark fruits like raisin and figs. With the sweetness and high carbonation, comes off as almost like a craft root beer, with apparent herbs and spices mixed in. Super fruity as it warms. Alcohol also emerges as room temperature approaches; while not overly thick or sweet, this one does get a bit bogged down. Shy of the finest mouthfeels for the style, but still pretty damn good.

Serving type: bottle

10-25-2010 04:18:37 | More by BretSikkink

RuudJH

Netherlands

3.75/5  rDev -7.6%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

Limited release from this Kasteel Donker, brewed in 1998, as stated on the bottle. Supplier's recommendation at my local liquor store.
6 euro for 75 cl bottle.

I'm not at all familiar with aged beers, but I was told this particular brew held well in the breweries' cellars.

Dark brown beer with a beige head. It's lightly fizzy, the head disappearing rather fast.
Smell is very fresh: clear fresh red and black fruits, like berries, strawberries, cherries. Lightly sour scent, with a hint of caramel.
Taste is very balanced and mellow. The alcohol is very well masked. It's got roasty malt notes, some coffee and nuts. Mainly though, there's sweet 'n sour notes of the fruits.

Smooth and rather easy in the mouth for it's 11 % abv. In the aftertaste there is the alcohol present.

It's ok drinkable, but the alcohol becomes rather strong toward the end of the 75 cl there's still some carbonation left, making the booze pretty active .

I have not had much experience with older bottlings, but this is surely a brew that aged well enough for my taste.
Perhaps hard to obtain, but defenately recommended if you can find it.

Serving type: bottle

10-08-2010 12:17:28 | More by RuudJH

Jeffo

Netherlands

4.38/5  rDev +7.9%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

Got this one at the liquor store down the road.

From a 750 into a snifter. Cool looking bottle that I will try to get a photo up of.

Note: This is their quadrupel, or donker, brewed to be like it's ten years old. Read: This beer is NOT 10 years old. It is a recent brew, but the brewer artificially aged it to be like it was ten years old.

APPEARANCE: Pours a one finger, medium looking an head with very good retention. Dark bistre brown in color with medium carbonation evident. head slowly fades to a good foam cap. A good carp remains until the end and leaves lots of nice lacing down the glass.

SMELL: Caramel malt, dark malt, and lots of dark fruits. Raisins and dates come through in the aroma. Some spicy notes, cloves and coriander, as well as some brown sugar.

TASTE: Definitely could've fooled me. Tastes exactly what I would expect a ten year old briun to taste like. Caramel malt with lots of dark fruits; raisins, dates, and dark grapes perhaps. Lots of spicy, yeasty notes or coriander, cloves, pepper, and some spicy alcohol there as well. Big, sweet and spicy aftertaste is bold but quick. Flavors are very smooth and blend together extremely well.

PALATE: Very soft. Medium body and carbonation, and very smooth and soft on the palate. Light on the palate, goes down smooth and finishes slightly dry. Definitely feels like it's been aged in a cellar somewhere.

OVERALL: What the hell? This was a brewing experiment gone right. I would absolutely love to find an actual 10 year old bottle to compare to the magic con-artist that is the Cuvee du Chateau. I quite enjoy their regular bruin, but this freak of a brewing fast-one really got the best of me. I've had a few aged Belgian brews, and this one tastes and feels exactly like what I would expect from an aged Kasteel Bruin. Liked it so much I went back a grabbed a few more. Wonder if other breweries would be willing to try this with some of their age-friendly beers? A unique and enjoyable drinking experience. One to check out if you get the chance.

Serving type: bottle

09-08-2010 12:55:35 | More by Jeffo