diff --git a/.checkstyle/checkstyle.xml b/.checkstyle/checkstyle.xml
index 3e16655..511c30a 100644
--- a/.checkstyle/checkstyle.xml
+++ b/.checkstyle/checkstyle.xml
@@ -87,9 +87,15 @@
         <!-- code quality -->
         <module name="MethodLength"/>
         <module name="ParameterNumber"/>
-        <module name="ClassDataAbstractionCoupling"/>
+        <module name="ClassDataAbstractionCoupling">
+            <!-- default is 7-->
+            <property name="max" value="10"/>
+        </module>
         <module name="BooleanExpressionComplexity"/>
-        <module name="ClassFanOutComplexity"/>
+        <module name="ClassFanOutComplexity">
+            <!-- default is 20-->
+            <property name="max" value="27"/>
+        </module>
         <module name="CyclomaticComplexity">
             <!-- default is 10-->
             <property name="max" value="11"/>
diff --git a/src/main/resources/kafka_versions.json b/src/main/resources/kafka_versions.json
index e8bfa93..4edaadf 100644
--- a/src/main/resources/kafka_versions.json
+++ b/src/main/resources/kafka_versions.json
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@
     "3.2.3": "quay.io/strimzi-test-container/test-container:latest-kafka-3.2.3",
     "3.3.2": "quay.io/strimzi-test-container/test-container:latest-kafka-3.3.2",
     "3.4.1": "quay.io/strimzi-test-container/test-container:latest-kafka-3.4.1",
-    "3.5.0": "quay.io/strimzi-test-container/test-container:latest-kafka-3.5.0"
+    "3.5.1": "quay.io/strimzi-test-container/test-container:latest-kafka-3.5.1",
+    "3.6.0": "quay.io/strimzi-test-container/test-container:latest-kafka-3.6.0"
   }
 }
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/src/test/java/io/strimzi/test/container/StrimziKafkaContainerIT.java b/src/test/java/io/strimzi/test/container/StrimziKafkaContainerIT.java
index 9eb3e1a..03e95c2 100644
--- a/src/test/java/io/strimzi/test/container/StrimziKafkaContainerIT.java
+++ b/src/test/java/io/strimzi/test/container/StrimziKafkaContainerIT.java
@@ -4,6 +4,19 @@
  */
 package io.strimzi.test.container;
 
+import org.apache.kafka.clients.admin.AdminClient;
+import org.apache.kafka.clients.admin.AdminClientConfig;
+import org.apache.kafka.clients.admin.NewTopic;
+import org.apache.kafka.clients.consumer.ConsumerConfig;
+import org.apache.kafka.clients.consumer.ConsumerRecord;
+import org.apache.kafka.clients.consumer.ConsumerRecords;
+import org.apache.kafka.clients.consumer.KafkaConsumer;
+import org.apache.kafka.clients.consumer.OffsetResetStrategy;
+import org.apache.kafka.clients.producer.KafkaProducer;
+import org.apache.kafka.clients.producer.ProducerConfig;
+import org.apache.kafka.clients.producer.ProducerRecord;
+import org.apache.kafka.common.serialization.StringDeserializer;
+import org.apache.kafka.common.serialization.StringSerializer;
 import org.junit.jupiter.params.ParameterizedTest;
 import org.junit.jupiter.params.provider.MethodSource;
 import org.slf4j.Logger;
@@ -13,6 +26,7 @@
 import org.testcontainers.containers.Container;
 import org.testcontainers.containers.Network;
 import org.testcontainers.containers.ToxiproxyContainer;
+import org.testcontainers.shaded.com.google.common.collect.ImmutableMap;
 import org.testcontainers.utility.DockerImageName;
 import org.testcontainers.utility.MountableFile;
 
@@ -21,8 +35,16 @@
 import java.net.Socket;
 import java.net.SocketAddress;
 import java.net.SocketTimeoutException;
+import java.time.Duration;
+import java.util.Collection;
+import java.util.Collections;
 import java.util.HashMap;
+import java.util.Locale;
 import java.util.Map;
+import java.util.UUID;
+import java.util.concurrent.ExecutionException;
+import java.util.concurrent.TimeUnit;
+import java.util.concurrent.TimeoutException;
 
 import static org.hamcrest.CoreMatchers.containsString;
 import static org.hamcrest.CoreMatchers.equalTo;
@@ -42,15 +64,16 @@ public class StrimziKafkaContainerIT extends AbstractIT {
     @MethodSource("retrieveKafkaVersionsFile")
     void testStartContainerWithEmptyConfiguration(final String imageName) {
         assumeDocker();
-        systemUnderTest = new StrimziKafkaContainer(imageName)
-            .withBrokerId(1)
-            .waitForRunning();
-        systemUnderTest.start();
 
-        assertThat(systemUnderTest.getBootstrapServers(), is("PLAINTEXT://"
-                + systemUnderTest.getContainerIpAddress() + ":" + systemUnderTest.getMappedPort(9092)));
+        try (StrimziKafkaContainer systemUnderTest = new StrimziKafkaContainer(imageName)
+                .withBrokerId(1)
+                .waitForRunning()) {
 
-        systemUnderTest.stop();
+            systemUnderTest.start();
+
+            assertThat(systemUnderTest.getBootstrapServers(), is("PLAINTEXT://"
+                    + systemUnderTest.getContainerIpAddress() + ":" + systemUnderTest.getMappedPort(9092)));
+        }
     }
 
     @ParameterizedTest(name = "testStartContainerWithSomeConfiguration-{0}")
@@ -311,7 +334,7 @@ void testStartBrokerWithProxyContainer(final String imageName) {
         systemUnderTest.stop();
     }
 
-    @ParameterizedTest(name = "testStartBrokerWithProxyContainer-{0}")
+    @ParameterizedTest(name = "testGetProxyWithNoContainer-{0}")
     @MethodSource("retrieveKafkaVersionsFile")
     void testGetProxyWithNoContainer(final String imageName) {
         systemUnderTest = new StrimziKafkaContainer(imageName)
@@ -319,4 +342,68 @@ void testGetProxyWithNoContainer(final String imageName) {
         systemUnderTest.start();
         assertThrows(IllegalStateException.class, () -> systemUnderTest.getProxy());
     }
+
+    @Test
+    void testKafkaContainerFunctionality() {
+        // using try-with-resources for AdminClient, KafkaProducer and KafkaConsumer (implicit closing connection)
+        try (StrimziKafkaContainer systemUnderTest = new StrimziKafkaContainer()
+                .waitForRunning()) {
+
+            systemUnderTest.start();
+
+            try (final AdminClient adminClient = AdminClient.create(ImmutableMap.of(
+                    AdminClientConfig.BOOTSTRAP_SERVERS_CONFIG, systemUnderTest.getBootstrapServers()));
+                 KafkaProducer<String, String> producer = new KafkaProducer<>(
+                         ImmutableMap.of(
+                                 ProducerConfig.BOOTSTRAP_SERVERS_CONFIG, systemUnderTest.getBootstrapServers(),
+                                 ProducerConfig.CLIENT_ID_CONFIG, UUID.randomUUID().toString()
+                         ),
+                         new StringSerializer(),
+                         new StringSerializer()
+                 );
+                 KafkaConsumer<String, String> consumer = new KafkaConsumer<>(
+                         ImmutableMap.of(
+                                 ConsumerConfig.BOOTSTRAP_SERVERS_CONFIG, systemUnderTest.getBootstrapServers(),
+                                 ConsumerConfig.GROUP_ID_CONFIG, "tc-" + UUID.randomUUID(),
+                                 ConsumerConfig.AUTO_OFFSET_RESET_CONFIG, OffsetResetStrategy.EARLIEST.name().toLowerCase(Locale.ROOT)
+                         ),
+                         new StringDeserializer(),
+                         new StringDeserializer())) {
+
+                final String topicName = "example-topic";
+                final String recordKey = "strimzi";
+                final String recordValue = "the-best-project-in-the-world";
+
+                final Collection<NewTopic> topics = Collections.singletonList(new NewTopic(topicName, 1, (short) 1));
+                adminClient.createTopics(topics).all().get(30, TimeUnit.SECONDS);
+
+                consumer.subscribe(Collections.singletonList(topicName));
+
+                producer.send(new ProducerRecord<>(topicName, recordKey, recordValue)).get();
+
+                Utils.waitFor("Consumer records are present", Duration.ofSeconds(10).toMillis(), Duration.ofMinutes(2).toMillis(),
+                    () -> {
+                        ConsumerRecords<String, String> records = consumer.poll(Duration.ofMillis(100));
+
+                        if (records.isEmpty()) {
+                            return false;
+                        }
+
+                        // verify count
+                        assertThat(records.count(), is(1));
+
+                        ConsumerRecord<String, String> consumerRecord = records.records(topicName).iterator().next();
+
+                        // verify content of the record
+                        assertThat(consumerRecord.topic(), is(topicName));
+                        assertThat(consumerRecord.key(), is(recordKey));
+                        assertThat(consumerRecord.value(), is(recordValue));
+
+                        return true;
+                    });
+            } catch (ExecutionException | InterruptedException | TimeoutException e) {
+                throw new RuntimeException(e);
+            }
+        }
+    }
 }