Gouden Carolus Classic

Brewed by Brouwerij Het Anker
Style: Belgian Strong Ale
Mechelen, Belgium

750ml bottle pours dark copper in color with a creamy light tan head that stays fairly well and laces some. Aromas of raisins, caramel, candi sugar, and a touch of alcohol. Flavor is full and rich with caramel, raisin, prune, yeast ,some bannana, and some pepperlike spice at the warm finish. Well carbonated palate with good full body and a somewhat dry finish..

Bottle (BB Apr 2009). Fruity and toffeish a little spice. Sweet and creamy. Not too my taste and slightly one dimensional but not unpleasant.

Concentrated notes of sweet plums and raisins waft from my glass as I pour this beer, there is also a touch of something like rum. The beer is quite well carbonated and produces a frothy, easily three-finger thick, tan colored head even after carefully pouring this into my tulip glass. The beer is a hazy, dark amber color that has deep purple overtones. An interesting aroma is on this one; it certainly smells rich and decadent. Notes of concentrated, caramelized brown sugar lead to something akin to cinnamon (though not quite) and some definite prune like notes. Woody fig notes lend a sort of dryness here, but the more you delve into the aroma the more concentrated and varied the rich concentrated fruit notes get. The concentrated fruit character never takes on a sharp, exaggerated fruitiness, but instead remains rounded by the caramelized malt core that makes up this beer.

Definitely sweet, this beer has a heft to it that sticks to the palate and in fact coats it as the beer passes through my mouth. It finishes with a certain chalkiness that makes me think that this might have started to oxidize. It has not reached the point of cardboard, but it may have started down that path. Perhaps cardboard is not the best descriptor as this beer still has ample room to move towards much more pleasing notes of sherry, which I definitely get hints of already. Rum like notes of brown sugar and molasses linger on the tongue as a touch of alcohol warms my chest. This has lots of concentrated, caramelized malt flavors. It is almost has a toffee like edge to it, but with only a touch of the butter character.

This is quite the sipping brew, each sip is rich and complex enough to be contemplative, and it is certainly thick enough that quaffing large draughts of this at a time would not be pleasant. It is right on the edge of being too sweet; it has achieved a great amount of richness without being overly sweet, but just so as any more would be sticky and cloying. In the end I think this is a touch too sweet, it has certainly been an enjoyable way to end the evening though.

Purchased: Plaza Liquors, Tucson AZ

Olney Beer & Fine Wine tasting. Nice fluffy head, medium bubbles, good retention. Bready, malty nose. Malt over-the-top in the mouth, overly sweet - simply too much. Unbalanced. Raisins and honey in the finish.

Yummie raisons and slightly alcohol nose. Cloudy murky brown color, no head, soft -nearly flat carbonation. Nice Yeast malt, caramel and pineapple taste- what a mixture. Ligth but fullmouth. Great.

On tap at Delirium Café, Göteborg, Sweden. Dark brown with a copper tone, nice fruity aroma. In the mouth, along a nice smooth feeling, a wonderful flavor evolves, complex malts, a touch of wood, chocolate, and with no alcohol coming through. Excellent.

Bottle: Burnt orange, brownish, medium foamy beige head, attractive lacing.   Huge plum and licorice aroma.   Soft notes of other dark pitted fruit as well.   Dark and pale fruit on the tongue, both strong.   Soft licorice and even chocolate is present.   Fairly sweet up front, with a soft hop bitterness on the back end.   Fairly big body, with a moderate mouthfeel.   Plum, apple skin, minor maple syrup, and chocolate all linger after the finish.   I wish I had two or three bottles of this.   Simply delicious!

Deep brown with large tan head. Tiny bead. Rich malt nose. Sweet choc malt flavor.