Gouden Carolus Cuvee Van De Keizer Blauw/Blue

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

2006...yummy! A little more carbonated than it should be I think...cork just blew out and richochetted off the ceiling...no idea where it is now. Great beer as you all know. Frothy head, larger bubbles than expected, and tremendous flavor. Out of the bottle @ 63F. What can I say, I have cases of it! :D

Every year on the 24th of February Gouden Carolus brews the Cuvee de Keizer Blauw, or "Grand Cru of the Emperor" to celebrate the birthday of Charles V. The Cuvee de Keizer is brewed uniquely with only fine Belgium hops and with it being 11% ALC/VOL. this beer will age extremely well over the next several years with a complexity and intensity usually reserved for only the finest wines. This beer pours with a deep caramel color and golden tan head with aromas plums, raisins and wood leaping out of the glass. The palate starts of with sweet caramel that soon gives way to fruity flavors of figs and plums with a slight tart quality. The finish is long and mouth filling as the Belgium hops flex their muscles making it both sweet and bitter at the same time. It is still a little young so if you can keep your hands off of it the 2008 Cuvee de Keizer will only continue to develop over the next couple of years. What a treat!

Much thanks to the Queens RB crew! 2004 bottle. Pours a lovely ruby red with a brownish tint. Intense aroma of bourbon, vanilla, and caramel. I can feel it in the eyes as I take in the bouquet; I presume this will be strong. Actually, it was much smoother than expected. Flavors of brown sugar, honey, and Werthers Original candy. Quite sweet with a surprisingly quickly fading finish. It teases you into thinking it will sting your throat but pulls back and gives you a boozy candy treat instead.

(750 ml bottle (2007) from 1828 Vintage House, cellared for 1 yr. after purchase) Pours a solid dark, rusty brown with a finger or so of sturdy, level tan head. Attractive-looking beer. Aroma of yeast, wine, brown sugar, molasses and caramel. Mouthfeel smooth and almost buttery soft. Lightly sticky on the back end. Wonderfully-laced, fine sheets and sold rings coat the inside of the glass. Flavor of brown sugar, red wine, yeast and spice (cinnamon-like) with a bit too much alcohol presence. As it warms a nice chocolatey note develops. Tastier as it warms/gets deeper in the bottle. Borderline excellent if it weren’t for being a little too hot and not exceptionally complex.

BOTTLE: pours a deep brown, with a reddish glow when held up to light. Nice lacing. Aroma is sweet/sugar, fruit, and malt. Taste is molasses, apricot, fig. Fantastic beer - one of my favorites.

2009 bottle. Pours black with a medium brown head. Aroma of honey, sweet malts, and some friuts. Flavor a bit wierd for my taste. Very carbonated.

2008 bottle. Pour looks like Coca-Cola, aroma is sweet and strong, fruity and complex. Flavors are a wild mixture of most every sweet fruity description I could possibly add here. Hard to describe, but not bad. Syrupy, with a alcohol burn to go with it. A very different beer, to be sure.

2004 bottle courtesy of IPFreely. Shared with Jacob, Rudolf & IPFreely. Dark quad like pour. Dried fruit. boozy, sweet malt aroma. Taste was dried dark fruits, raisiny, grape soda like sweetness. Nice fuller mouthfeel. Nice beer looking forwrd to the 2006 bottle at home.