Gouden Carolus Cuvee Van De Keizer Blauw/Blue

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

Rating reflects aged sample. Re-rate: Bottled, 2001 version sampled in 2008, i.e. 7 years old. Still a fair head after all these years, beautiful. Aroma and flavour have aged extremely well, at every sniff i discovered new notes including roasted malts, chocolate, peat, raisins, wood, unbelievable. Everlasting finish in which new flavour arise as well. This beer is truly outstanding in every aspect. It’s already very good when fresh, but absolutely outstanding after 7 years of aging, and will probably improve even further when older. Forget about all these imperial stouts, there is nothing like an aged Belgian Strong Ale like this! Original rating: On tap. Brown coloured, beautiful head. Complex malty, fruity nose and flavour. This combination of bittersweet malty flavours with complex fruiteness is exactly what i’m looking for in a beer. Very good! Rating 4.5

Just got a case of the 2006 version. What a terrific brew. All manner of yummy flavors, Chocolate and cherries being dominant. Nice head and lacing. This is one of my favorites of all time. Ammended to add. This one of the very best beers in the world. It ages nicely too. I saw another case and I’m half tempted to get one. The complexity is beyong compare.

THOUGHTS: This was the first perfect beer I ever tasted. The first time I had it was a little over a year ago. This time it was a younger bottle than before, but I still think it’s perfect. When it’s aged for about two years it’s just off the chart. There are dark fruit aromas and flavors, along with chocolate vanilla and caramel. It just keeps getting better the warmer it gets. I love this beer, especially around the holidays. It goes down easy for such a high ABV and such rich flavors. TECHNICAL: 2006 bottle. Poured a clear, dark red or black cherry color with an average, off-white head that mostly diminished, but left excellent lacing. The aroma was moderate caramel and chocolate malt. With gratpe, raisin, plum, prune, date, apple, cherry, vanilla and light alcohol. The initial flavor was moderate sweentness, while the finish was heavy sweetness and sour fruit with a short duration along with the flavors of the aroma and a short duration. The body was medium to full with fizzy carbonation and a light alcoholic finish

(2008 bottle) Pours like a cola with a slight red tint; very minimal carbonation. Has a spicy taste that flows off the palate. The only beer that remotely resembles this one is the Delirium Noel for is spiciness.This has a fantastic lingering finish.

Wow!! nose of banana, cherries, anis, and vanilla in the bottle. pours clear with light head, some lingering lace. nose in the glass also yields yeast, caramel, other citrus - very aromatic! nice body, sweet but not overly. only cloying suggestions of the 11% juiice. hints of dark fruit. This is a 2006 bottle. Brought it back from Brussels with me

2006 vintage, enjoyed August 2009. I have had this beer many times, and it definitely improves with age. Big pop when the cork comes out of the bottle.Very dark brown, and a thick, lacing head that never quite fades. Aroma has fruit and Belgian yeast. A very complex beer, with figs, sweet malt, very light anise, and some chocolate. The high abv is well hidden. One of the richest, heaviest palates found on any beer. It is without a doubt one of the finest beers in the world.

Wow! Pours a mahogany brown but settles in the glass a blurry black with a dark cherry glow. Immense capping of orangey tinted ivory foam thats very smooth, thick, and fluffy. Sits without moving as it barely reduces itself to take on a thicker, cake batter appearance as the fluffyness dissolves into the foam. Lacing coats the glass in thick moth-holed sheeting all the while that cap hardly diminishes. Aroma is of old, soggy, sugared banana bread thats dark, deep, and dull with slight plum, raisin, fig, and molasses soaking within the deepness. Quite deceptive on the nose as it seems to build while it sits and gets fairly deep and complexly so in that deepness. Nice little noting of spicy orange zest, cinnamon, and cardamom is evident as well. Oh, my what incredible soaking smoothness and softness this stuff creates as it floats across the palate with amazing ease. Mild, dull flavors of dark fruit bread sink in with raisin, plum, dry fig, molasses, and soft citrusy orange notes that tender up a warming sense of spicyness with cardamom, cooked sugar, and raisin skins making for a lengthy finish. Middle has a creamy center of caramel, banana, and dark sugary sweetness. Its ever changing in its profile, sometimes more warming and spicy, other times, super tender and malty with dark dull sugary stuff. Wonderful play on the palate and on the mind. Feel is perfect. Soft, supple, giving, full, smooth, warming, sweet, a little bit spicy, and a whole lot of yum! Amazingly soft texture of sugared bread thats soaked in dark fruityness. There’s even a slight hoppy, vitamin coated, citrus bittering that comes across within certain sips thats very intriguing. The smoothness is incredible; top notch. The warmth will catch ya every time, nearly every sip in fact, which slows it down for enormously fine, big, sippage. Damn fine stuff!

2001 vintage, 750 ml bottle. Oh yes, this is so good!!! Pours a nice amber coclor, somewhat hazy with an offwhite head. Wonderful aroma from plums and other dried sweet fruits lovely maltiness with nutty tones, toffee and cream. Flavors brings the plums again, fruity and very malty, toffee notes before turning into a bitter finish. Grat lacing on the glass and a full palate. Incredibly good, this one is definately a new favourite. Makes me wishing it was the 24th of February alot more often...