From the archives: Kasteel Rouge


Review from July 2011!

Oh boy.. boy oh boy.. Kasteel Rouge from Belgium!

I saw this beer at the Liquor Mart the other day, it was a new addition to the stock, so of course, I love to try new stock. For some reason, for the entire previous week, including until yesterday I thought it was a Chimay beer for some strange reason (must be the bottle).

Reading the front of the label, I expected it to be your regular Belgian style Rouge beer, nope.

This is the most non-beery beer I've ever tasted, especially during this project. It doesn't taste like a beer at all to me, it reminds me of Arbor Mist more than beer, it tastes like very tarty fruit, like a bottle of Arbor mist does, not a Belgian beer.

Pouring the bottle, The very dark red/purple colour made it clearly obvious this wasn't going to be your regular beer. Very tart, very very tart. I believe what I'm tasting is cherries. The aroma  reminds me of cherry jelly. It's 8% alcohol/volume, kind of hard to tell, but it's there.

Looking online: Yep, the name is for the sour cherries added in addition of a brown ale, left in a barrel for 6 months. It certainly is surprising.

I can honestly say this is the most unexpected selection of the series, very good for a fruit beer, yet very very tart/sour. I certainly will buy it again though, just for something different. Also, it seems like a beer that may be popular with people who aren't so much beer drinkers (but will drink fruitier drinks). Also, this is something I could see one drinking as part of a desert, not for barbecuing, sitting on the deck or watching a hockey game.. too sweet for that!

https://www.flickr.com/photos/codyrl/albums/72157623472592721

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