Gouden Carolus Classic

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

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.

Sample most likely aged for a few years in the store: Pours a full copper brown with a thin tan head. Aroma of bready Belgian yeast, sweet caramel malt, and some oxidized complexity. Body starts light and candi sugar sweet with nice balance and complexity, slowing fading into a slightly more dull, earthy dry, bitter finish. Hides the alcohol very well though, and is quite drinkable. A nice Belgian strong.

Co-rated by scraff... Sparkling clear, copper ale with a small, creamy, khaki-colored head. Good retention. The aroma is caramelly, alcoholic and spicy with a huge blast of banana bread with nuts. The flavor is very bold and malty. The high ABV is well-hidden with notes of milk chocolate, dried prune, raisin, toasted cinnamon, toasted brown sugar and toffee. Well-bittered. Full-bodied with a creamy mouthfeel and fizzy carbonation. Lengthy, bitter-sweet, dry finish. Thanks to jbrus for the bottle.

dark ruby-brown colour, big creamy head, nice lacing, malty, prune aroma, bready, vinous, very smoot, lightly sweet, sharp bitterness with a touch of acidity, long dry malty finish with notes of alcohol - robust and complex, the freshness of the mouthfeel is tempered by the quite heavy finish

not a fan, but it wasn’t that bad, not too rich and bit of toffee? caramel?

Dark red-brown. Brownish head, slim but going down lacey. Raisins/(dark) sultana's, fruity, alcoholic nose. A rich X-mas cake. Taste is outspokenly sweet. Alcoholic, ridden with (fruity) esters and higher alcohols. Flavours of fresh figs, plums, pears, dried dates. Watered-down dark brandy (Armenian?). Less acidity than in the Noël. As usual with G.C., the texture is thinnish and completely at odds with the OG/ABV. A bit soupy, after all. Liquid fruit cake. It remains a classic in every sense. I think the managment buy-out has been for the better. I'm not sure about the new names, though.

Deep reddish colour with a small tan head. Malty and sweet aroma with hints of plum. Nice balanced flavor with yeast and a malty dark fruit sweetness.

Bottled, 330ml, aged 6.5yrs. Ruddy brown with slight white head. Full fruity strong ale aged into a fortified wine flavour. Some remaining spice, but mostly amalgamated into a rich, thick body. Some toffee, caramel notes in a sweetish finish. Overall a heavy, rich sipper, worth aging.