Kasteel Barista
Brouwerij Van Honsebrouck N.V.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Poured in a snifter glass, forming a finger of foamy head that slowly faded to very heavy lacing. Smooth feel. Definitely chocolate and a bit of coffee, mildly sweet.

 

Bottled in a little dark glass stubbly, I don’t know if it’s bottle conditioned but I left the last teaspoon in there just in case
Pours a very very very dark brown body with thick big tan head
Aroma is good mocha
Flavour is irished up mocha too but the choc element is a bit too mock-alate IMHO

 

 

 

330 ml bottle, as Kasteel Barista Chocolate Quad. ABV is 11%. Very dark colour, mid between mahogany and ebony. Low tan head. Strong aroma of coffee and chocolate, hints of vanilla and caramel. The flavour is fairly sweet, but not cloying. Distinct notes of chocolate, vanilla, caramel and coffee, dark dried fruits and a little hops in the finish. Moderately warming mouthfeel.

Pours a dark brown with a beige head.

Tastes like your drinking malt euro chocolate and dark red fruits with no Belgian yeast taste and no booze. This is too smooth, better be careful.

a very nice belgian quad here, beer is a cloudy mahogany colour with a light brown one finger white head which quickly dissipates to a thin layer of bubbles, the nose is a dense aroma of sweet dark fruits, cocoa and coffee, and this carries through to the taste, lot of fig, raisin, coffee, espresso, nice roast, lot of chocolate of course, cocoa powder, some treacle, caramel, fudge, tobacco, a touch oaky, belgian yeast flavours, spice, definitely booze, not much bitterness on the finish, medium to full bodied, some alcohol warming, a nice sipper, all in all a well balanced and unique quad, and tasty too.

Taste: complex, fruitcake, clove, cinnamon, chocolate, coffee beans. Same with the nose. Dark brown hue, mostly clear, tan head, some lace. Medium to full body. Warming alcohol finish to this Holiday ale.

 

 

91,5

A: Dark brown with red accent, clear but very saturated color. Beige/slightly red head that sticks around, about average for a quad

S: Notes of brown sugar, chocolate, more chocolate, some caramelized malt

T: Follows the smell, chocolate is a mix between european milk chocolate and semisweet chocolate, light notes of belgian yeast with fruit character, mostly red fruits instead of any banana. Sugar character is not overly sweet, just remniscent of brown sugar.

M: Full and satisfying, but not syrupy. About perfect for my preferences. Carbonation is medium, fading to light+ by the end of the glass.

O: A bit off the beat for a quad, but absolutely delicious! Defintiely can detect the Kasteel character common to this, the Donker, and the Rouge.

 

 

A - Pours the classic deep cola colour of a quad with a thick beige head that retains well
S - Massive chocolate- awesome, really awesome.
T - So up front has the usual quad malts before a flavour bomb of chocolate kicks in. The finish is milk chocolate. Soo very flavoursome.
M – Full body and carbonation is medium.
O – So if you are looking for a traditional quad this is not your beer. But I can tell you if you have an open mind this beer is A+. I have savoured many great Trappist quads, but this is different and deserves a great rating because it is unique

L- Ultra-deep ruby/chestnut when held to a halogen light. Sitting further away on my desk after dusk and it appears almost black. Clear, zero sludge at bottle, pours with 5mm off-white head. (ps 15 mins later, head holds well).
S- Deep cocoa and coffee. Not much else gets past that.
T- Cocoa beans, deep *pungent* cocoa. That has to be an added ingredient, it's so intense - surely.
F- Deep, pungent, notably rich, like a luxe choco-cream gateau of a beer.
O- You need to welcome serious cocoa+coffee intensity; this is not an orthodox or 'trad beer' in any sense. It's certainly interesting to try, though it's so out there that I start suspecting the inclusion on the ingredients list of 'aromas'. Now that's a reeeally unusual thing to have in ingredients and also completely vague. I'm going to do some Googling+digging before scoring this beer. If the star and all-dominating highlights of this beer are in fact added 'aromas' it's going to score much less well from more traditionalist me... Conclusion: Seems they add coffee+chocolate to this then act vague on the ingredients listing on the bottle. I don't like that, at all, **especially** not specifically disclosing it, or even intentionally hiding it!, and have rated it accordingly.
330ml bottle. Bought from BelgiumInABox at Antwerp/BE for home delivery to me in London/UK. BB: 09/2024

 

 

 

Not it for me, I loved the Chocolate Fudge Stout from Kees so expected to like this too. Tastes more like mediocre coffee than chocolate to me. Also overall a weak body for such a strong beer. Disappointed me.

 

 

 

Appearance: Pours a cola color with a one finger head that fades to a ringlet and archipelago; splashy lacing

Smell: Spice cake with fig, date, coffee and cocoa powder tones

Taste: Spice cake forward with the fig and date flavors complementing the spices; just the slightest hints of coffee and cocoa powder, through the middle, with the impact of keeping the sweetness in check; the finish is a nice blend

Mouthfeel: Medium to full body with moderate to high carbonation

Overall: I am not sure whether I would have picked out the chocolate here had it not been on the label; it adds a nice dimension and I like the beer but I am not sure I would call it a Chocolate Quad

 

 

 

Fig, raisin and yeast were delicious but no discernable chocolate or coffee.

 

Overpaid for this and felt it kind of Underwhelming Not enough chocolate tones to be called a chocolate beer. Kind of roasty with some sweet dark fruits and a pretty easy to crush body. Worth trying at least once but glad I didn't get stuck with a four pack.

Everything you want in a beer. Taste great smells great...alcohol check