Kasteel Winter
Brouwerij Van Honsebrouck N.V.

Bottled 2013.

Pours a dark matte brown color. Almost no head whatsoever. Opaque and rather still in appearance.

Aroma has strong notes of rich dark bread, some dark fruity notes, caramel, and chocolate covered cherries.

Taste follows the nose with notes of chocolate, plums, dark fruits, caramels, with a rich bready backbone. There is a spicy note that peeps through on the back end.

Feel is dry, almost powdery in character. Mild carbonation. Dry finish.

Overall its a really unique but lovely strong dark ale - the chocolate notes do give it a more holiday-esque character. Really nice beer.

 

Reviewed from (very) long-standing notes. The bottle was acquired from a raffle win at the 2014 Brewer's Ball in Tampa. Poured from the 2013 vintage bottle, corked and caged, into an El Catador teku glass. Consumed on 10/30/17.

A: Hazy to turbid dark brown, with a thin off-white head that fades quickly. Fairly low amount of visible carbonation. Not particularly pudding - reminds one of chocolate-caramel pudding.

S: Dark fruits, caramel malts, and brown sugar. A moderate toast to the malt body. Some yeast esters – apples and pears especially. Almost like a boozy caramel apple, with some toffee as well.

T: Fruity esters up front – apple and pear again, with some dark fruit, rum-raisins, and prunes. Toasted malts, lots of brown sugar, and milder molasses. Touches of bubble gum and banana. A caramel apple impression again and some notes of vanilla. Mild spices – but not as heavily spiced like most other "Winter" beers. More caramel and brown sugar plus the raisins and apple fruitiness at and after the swallow.

M: A medium body for style with a sticky mouthfeel. Carbonation sensation on the low side. The alcohol flavors are certainly noticeable but this isn't "hot".

O: A decent beer, though nothing I’d be running to repeat. It comes up a little short in the boozy-raisiny-malty goodness I was hoping for, but it's certainly sweet and malty. But a reasonably tasty Belgian Strong Dark option.

 

Bottled 9/11/13; drank 1/3/16 @ the Yarchives.

Opaque brown/purple appearance.

A rough pour yielded a small khaki head; decent lace.

Caramel, plum,brown sugar & faint raspberry notes in the nose.

Medium thick, creamy mouthfeel.

Rich caramel & brown sugar flavors up front; faint orange citrus notes on the finish. Mild booze heat emerged as this warmed.

This has aged beautifully.

 

So smooth and lush with winter and dark flavors. Makes me look forward to the months up coming, would be a perfect beer to have by the fire. Has two flavor groups happening, one a toffee/caramel latte with milk chocolate and vanilla, then other is a molasses dipped dark fruits such as prune and plum, leading to a combining flavor of sweet, dark and slightly bitter. Little light in the body, but not necessarily as bad thing with the cloying sweetness and creaminess.

 

 

Brouwerij Van Honsebrouck N.V. Kasteel Winter (2013), 11% ABV. Bottled 6/26/13, so the oldest beer I've ever had. Pours very dark brown to black, with a slight tan head. Nose is a light sweetness, taste is sweet moleasses, a hint of chocolate, dark fruit, with a slight bitter close and some alcohol burn. Excellent mouthfeel, overall excellent.

 

 

This was poured into a chalice. The appearance was a dark brown color with a thin white to off white foamy head. Moderate lace wove around the glass. The aroma starts off with the milk chocolate up front and bold (coming through pretty dry and sweet). Quad qualities takes a good a minute before displaying themselves. The flavor is pretty sweet through the chocolate, Belgian sugars and dark fruits. Bold Belgian spices make a good effort to balance. Nice sweet Belgian sugar to chocolate aftertaste with the same finish. On the palate, this one sat about a medium on the body with a nice sipping quality about it. Low carbonation. Stickiness is almost cloying but dryness from milk chocolate seems to contain nicely. Overall, pretty nice BSDA that I'd have again in the Winter.

 

Poured from a single-serve bottle--bottled on June 26, 2013, so this is well-aged, but probably not too long in the tooth yet.

Pours a solid but unspectacular one-finger tan head that quickly disappears--but good classic Belgian lacing. Dark brown and extremely opaque for the style, and lacking in the usual reddish highlights. Not an ugly beer, but not a pretty one either.

The aromas aren't classic, but they are definitely unique. Malts very forward, with distinctive espresso notes, and a touch of dark fruit in the background. As the brew warms. a smoke aroma appears, but so too does a bit of solvent note.

The flavors follow the nose fairly closely, but without the fruit notes. Dark chocolate and coffee with a touch of creaminess combine to provide what is at once a unique take on this style and yet. Ok, I have to say it. Dammit, I feel like I'm drinking a Quad mixed with a Starbucks something or other. The solvents from the alcohol only serve to drive the feeling home. I like the taste in the abstract, but the "get off my lawn" old guy deep inside is rebelling and screaming "THIS IS NOT A QUAD DAMMIT." Because I will admit this might be a personal failing, rather than that of the brewer, I won't deduct too much.

The mouthfeel is pretty thin for the style, and lacking carbonation.

Overall, I'm deeply conflicted about this brew, I absolutely love Kasteel's "Donker." I understand this is a "seasonal," but it feels like a "miss" for me as to the "style." Still, a decent brew that others might find intriguing.

 

Pours a dirty brown color with very little head. Not the best looking beer I have seen by any stretch, but I don't try new beers for how they look.

The smell is a bit better than the look. Not a lot going on, mainly coffee and chocolate.

Lot of chocolate in this one. I am also tasting some fruit, as well as a hint of spice, plus a bit of warming on the finish.

Smooth and silky going down, with a hint of heat from the carbonation and abv.

Not quite as fruity as this style usually is, but that is not a bad thing. If I was eating a good quality piece of chocolate and washing it down with a quad, that is a bit of what this experience is. It is nicely done, a change of pace from what you normally get from a Belgian, and worth a try.

A bottle of 2015 release drunk in October 2016.

After removing the cage & cork I'm not impressed by the pour or nose.
Pours a muddy brown with a fizzy head, not unlike a cola. Head is gone as fast as would be any cola's. No lace left behind.
Smell is sweet with a solid note of vanilla. First thought? Candy, maybe chocolate chip cookie dough (YUM!) but nothing beer like really. Further investigation finds some fruitiness and malt.
Taste is where this shines. Notes of vanilla, oak, dark fruits, boozy in the back nose, malty, light smoke. Terrific balance.
Rich, smooth, very whiskey-like. Definitely a sipping brew. Hockey and a bomber, sounds like a winner to me.

 

2013 Vintage

L - Ugly, muddy brown with ruby red on the edges and less than a finger of beige/khaki head

S - Intense coffee with subtle dark chocolate and booze.

T - Coffee is huge even after three years. Genuine dark chocolate, dark fruits, cinnamon, iced coffee, vanilla. Great stuff.

F - Big beer at 11% with noticeable warmth, but still calm on the feel with some carbonation bubbles. I'm having an easy time drinking this on a hot Summer's day,

O - Unique to the style thanks to the addition of coffee and chocolate, but it was a gamble that paid off. Delicious on all fronts.