Gouden Carolus Cuvee Van De Keizer Rood/Red

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

0, 75 l bottle, vintage 2009.
Hazy golden beer with a huge and stable, foamy white head what diminishes very slowly, leaves a nice lace on the glass and never disappears. Rich aroma of caramel and honey, spicy character with coriander, liqueric malt. Oily texture, a density like honey, very thick body with caramel, again the liqueric malt and the spicy character of coriander, some vanilla. Fine alcoholic-spicy aftertaste with a mild hop in the aftertaste. Very good and balanced brew.

Bottle: Poured a golden with white fluffy head. Aroma is that of fruit. Taste is apples, malts, and light hop finish.

Apples! I smell apples! Pour of a clear golden with fluffy white head gives me that definite sweet apple aroma. Flavor is a malted version of the apple aroma I was talking about earlier. Very much like Martinelli’s Sparkling Cider, except it gets you drunk. Or drunker.

Bottle - 750ml (2008 Vintage). Cloudy blond body with a thin white creamy/foamy head. Fresh hoppy aroma with herbal, citrusy, and yeasty hints. Alcohol is very well hidden. Well balanced malty/hoppy taste that carries yeasty, fruity, and spicy notes. Ends with a long, warming, bittersweet finish. Awesome!

THOUGHTS: The Blue version is my favorite beer and I went into this rating think that if this was half as good as the blue, it would be great. It wound up not all like I was expecting, but was still nice. It was a little like Duvel, but way more interesting. It still had that certain Gouden Carolus taste and aroma, but without the wonderful intertwining dark malts. Hid alcohol quite nicely, but it appears in the belly. TECHNICAL: Bottle. Poured a hazy, dark yellow with nice carbonation and a large, creamy, off-white head that slowly diminished tho a thick sheet that left excellent side-coating lacing. The aroma was candy sugar, very light floral hops, light to moderate yeast, honey, spices, light colored and tropical fruits. The initial flavor was sweet and lightly acidic; while the finish was sweet, slightly bitter and slightly acidic with and average duration. There was honey, spices, slight alcohol, tropical fruits, slight hops, candy sugar and yeast. The medium body, may have been a little thicker, but was lightened by the carbonation was sort of syrupy and then very dry with rather fizzy carbonation and a slightly metallic and lightly alcoholic finish.

In short: A big thick sweet and fruity Belgian blonde ale. Well done but nothing special
How: Bottle 750ml. 2008 vintage. Consumed when about 8 to 12 months of age
The look: Slightly cloudy light golden body topped by a medium white head
In long: Nose is yeasty with tropical fruits and a light spiciness. Taste is sweet and very fruity. White bread dough, candy sugar, marmalade, honey, herbs (thyme and the likes), some floral notes, pears. Finish is a little sugary. Lack of hops. Alcohol very well hidden. Pleasant full body and lively carbonation. Pleasant beer but too sweet and way too marmalade to give it high marks. For an Het Anker Carolus beer I thought this was surprisingly generic. Hate them or love them but the line of Carolus beer really stand out. Not this one. Not decadent malted body, or anything that makes all other Carolus beer special. This beer could have been from any half-decent Belgian brewery. And since any Belgian Brewery is at least half-decent what it really means is that this is the type of beer that could have brewed by just about any Belgian brewery. But having said so to start with my rating would have been less wordy and therefore would have seem less intelligent.

Bottle that I picked up at Dranken Geers, some time ago, consumed 09-10-09 Pours golden with large white head, very clear. Aroma is sweet, malty and with more than a whiff of alcohol. Taste is also quite sweet and malty but also spicy. Enjoyable as this is I found it too be a little too sweet and a bit of a one-trcik pony. A6 A5 F6 P3 Ov13 3.3

from Au Grain d’Orge - pours a cloudy blond colour under a huge and bright white foam; superb lacing; estery and fruity aroma with notes of pears, pineapples and spices; very sweet and with a solid malt backbone, lively palate and with a subtle but high carbonation ; long fruity finish with tons of residual sugars and lingering spicy notes