Kasteel Rouge is a unique blend of Kasteel Donker and a sweet cherry liqueur. This fruity beer makes a great aperitif on a sunny terrace. It’s certainly a beer for lovers of sweet cherries with an overpowering aroma of the fruit. The cherries get the better of the malt in the Kasteel Donker mother beer, although it contributes touches of chocolate and pepper to remind you it’s there. It is surprisingly easily digestible for quite a strong beer.

This beer, as indicated by its scoundrel-a-like name, is a borderline competitor to the popular strong golden ale Duvel, though it also fits well into its brewery's range of distinctive strong ales: Van Honsebrouck, of Ingelmunster, West Flanders, are also responsible for the even stronger and very distinctive Kasteelbier, as well as brewing one of the only two genuine lambics outside the Brussels area under the St Louis name. The recipe is complex: Pilsener, pale and wheat malts are used (the latter is unusual among Belgian brewers, who usually prefer the grain in unmalted form), and the secondary fermentation is primed with dextrose. The result is an orangey-golden bottle-conditioned ale, darker than Duvel, with a light sediment, a rich and creamy head and a fresh, fruity and equally creamy aroma with hints of leather and spice. The creaminess continues into the soft-textured palate, which is warming and liquerishly bitter, with fruity flavours of lemon and lime and an elusive hint of banana. The background maltiness is light but firm, and the beer becomes dry and tangy towards the finish, with plenty of hop character from dry-hopping with Saaz, without becoming overwhelmingly bitter. Overall, however, there's a certain heaviness to the beer which means you never forget its substantial gravity - surely a failing in beers of this style, where the trick is to be deceptively drinkable, as suggested by the treacherousness of the names they are traditionally given.

This beer, as indicated by its scoundrel-a-like name, is a borderline competitor to the popular strong golden ale Duvel, though it also fits well into its brewery's range of distinctive strong ales: Van Honsebrouck, of Ingelmunster, West Flanders, are also responsible for the even stronger and very distinctive Kasteelbier, as well as brewing one of the only two genuine lambics outside the Brussels area under the St Louis name. The recipe is complex: Pilsener, pale and wheat malts are used (the latter is unusual among Belgian brewers, who usually prefer the grain in unmalted form), and the secondary fermentation is primed with dextrose. The result is an orangey-golden bottle-conditioned ale, darker than Duvel, with a light sediment, a rich and creamy head and a fresh, fruity and equally creamy aroma with hints of leather and spice. The creaminess continues into the soft-textured palate, which is warming and liquerishly bitter, with fruity flavours of lemon and lime and an elusive hint of banana. The background maltiness is light but firm, and the beer becomes dry and tangy towards the finish, with plenty of hop character from dry-hopping with Saaz, without becoming overwhelmingly bitter. Overall, however, there's a certain heaviness to the beer which means you never forget its substantial gravity - surely a failing in beers of this style, where the trick is to be deceptively drinkable, as suggested by the treacherousness of the names they are traditionally given.

The taste of Cuvée du Château is comparable to that of a Kasteel Donker, reminiscent of port. This ‘premier cru classé’ was developed in the style of a quadrupel. In this type of strong, dark brown beer that veers between sweet and bitter, malt has the upper hand. The Cuvée du Chateau has the characteristics of a madeirised beer, with initial hints of roast and caramelised malt, followed by delicate hop bitters in the finish. A fully-fledged gastronomic beer.