Gouden Carolus Classic

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

Pours a cloudy dark maroon color with a medium light beige head. Pretty good retention. Really enjoyed the nose on this beer, not over the top candy sugar and fruits like some tend to be. Got a bunch of banana, some light molasses, grapes, mild apple, with some sweet candy sugar as well. The flavor was also nice. Definitely on the fruity side as well, with the apple and grapes taking the reins and pulling along the malts and candy sugar. The alcohol was masked proficiently, with a lengthy fruity sweet finish. This is well crafted and very delicious. Quite an enjoyable experience.

What a great beer. Pours a deep burnt toffee colour, with minimal offwhite foam which dissipates fairly quickly. Aroma is of dark fruit and caramel. Quite intense. The flavour is rich and complex and earthy. Plums and dates are present, along with the caramel promised by the aroma, and a warming alcohol note. There’s a light bitterness present which offsets the sweetness well, and leaves a great "just one more sip" impression. Delicious.

330ml bottle, 9th Nov 08. Beguiling odour of dark fruits and woodiness, which carries over to the flavour, thick with treacle and thorough maltiness. Deep brown with a thin whitish head. You feel the alcohol but you don’t taste it - a very good winter sipping beer.

330ml bottle. Rich brown, initially thick beige head. Beautiful sweet fruity aroma - apple, pear, melon, glue-solvent. Gentle carbonation leaves a smooth creamy feel in the mouth. Upon swallowing a beautiful wave of richly roasted malt covers the tongue. Given the colour I guess I shouldn’t have been surprised, but it was so wonderfully rich a taste it really lit my eyes up. Everything in excellent balance - well mellowed maltiness, subtly winey sweetness. Two sips, and I indeed feel like an emperor!

330mL bottle from a group order. Pours a deep dark copper with a small tan head. No sediment which is something that bugs me about this brewery. But the nose on this is quite nice: booze, roasty malts, caramel crunch, some biscuits, grapes, an odd hoppy aspect, general sweetness, very complex and enticing, I like it. Flavour: Nice! Sweet grapes follow nice bready malts, some pear, toffee, booze but restrained, dates, figs, very tasty! Comes in complex waves, a very multi-layered beer. I was worried this was going to be a sugar bomb but I am very pleasantly surprised. Very unique actually, not at all what one might expect. Seems sort of like a Dopplebock with Belgian ale yeast used to ferment it, which is not at all a bad thing by my palate!

Bottle. Pours dark maroon brown with an off-white head. Very malty nose, starts as liquid toffee. Body filled with dark fruits, figs & plums. Touch of chocolatemint & liquorice in the aftertaste (wait for it). The palate is just perfect, almost buttery and definitely creamy with a subtle carbonation.

Caramel toffee, vinous fruit notes, almost a hint of chocolate? Deep brown/amber, nice head and lacing. Rich complex raisiny, smoky toffee sweetness, slightly tart, mild hops. Full, creamy body, nice smooth , long finish, with the alcohol burning and peaking at the end. A fantastic beer!

[Eyes] Dark brown color with a mostly discreet, small white head. [Nouse] The aroma is strong fruity with hints of banana, malt caramel, yeast, vanilla, and brown cuban sugar. [Mouth] Great Full body with nice and gentile carbonation, notes of flavors of sweet, strong fruits, sugar and yeast. The Afther taste is long and sweet with a touch of caramel and vanilla. An excellent beer.