Gouden Carolus Classic

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

Bottle at Plan B. Cph. Dk. Red-brown color with a big tan head. Sweet caramel fruity aroma and sweet dry light alcoholic fruity caramel yeasty taste. Medium to full body and a sweet warming alcoholic finish.

Dark red-brown colour with creamy head. Bit sweet aroma of fruits and caramel. Sweet flavour of dark malts, caramel, fruits. Good mouthfeel though far from the same as in the Carolus Christmas ale. A great beer.

Dark amber color, cloudy. Sweet and malty with lots of licorice. Some roasted malt and hints of milk chocolate. Pear and pineapple. Served very cold, but I detected a fine maltaroma that becomes more prominent as the beer warmens. A warming sensation of alcohol. Well balanced beer! Gouden Carolus 1984, tasted in september 07 in De Kulminator Antwerpen. porto aroma, somewhat dusty. Sweet sugary flavor with a hint of cherry and porto. Even a hint of chocolate. Cherry sweets in the aftertaste. Still in top shape after 13 years. (7 4 9 3 15 = 3.8)

A Mes rate: Draught @ PBF. Excellent. Wonderful dubbel - amber type looks with thick tan head that lasts very well. One of the best looking beers I have seen. Typical Gouden Carolus behaviour all round. Nose is rich with plums and yeast and a touch of hard liquor and an absolute delight. Some may find it a little over bearing maybe. Initially sweet but then all the good bits come through with plums and malt and coffee and plenty of other good stuff. Full bodied, excelent palate full stop. Warm boozy hit for the finish but just done perfectly. Get some it’s glorious!

Dark amber with a small, but staying head. Aroma has lots of sweet fruits - some plums. Some sherry-like tones as well. Lightly vinious. Taste has lots of caramel and dried fruits.

Poured a dark reddish brown with a huge off white head. Malty, fruity and bready aromas. Sweet, spicy, and fruity tasting. Alcohol well hidden. Very good…

Clear ruby-brown pour. Medium light brown head with decent lacing. Huge malty nose, tons of dark fruits, toasted notes, chocolatey richness, maybe even coffee, caramel and grapes reminiscent flavors, very estery anyway. Very appealing and powerful. In mouth, the typical initial Het Anker rich sweetness is luxuriously accompanied by drying out yeast. Smoky, woody and mineral long finish full of memories with an ever so slight alcohol hint and noble hop bitterness. Medium-full bodied, moderate to high carbonation, rich mouthfeel. Fantastic malty belgian, almost like a doppelbock, enormous level of sweetness included. Still, more balanced if not as rich as the grand cru, but perhaps less exciting than the noël as far as I’m concerned. That’s a bit like comparing napoleon and alexander the great though. A must.

Pours an excellent dark brown with good lacing. Aroma is full with loads of dark fruits and molasses kicking about. Taste is mmm, theres soemthign wrong here, similar to aroma, but with a kind of bitter malt whiskey liquirce distorting the goodness. Maybe this bottle wasn at its best but the taste just wasnt living upto what the aroma had to give.