Gouden Carolus Hopsinjoor

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

Aroma:Citrus,yeastly,fruity... Apperance:Light hazy gols,huge white head... Falvor:alcohol,citrus,fruity...

330ml bottle. Poured a medium and cloudy yellow color with a large sized white head. Aromas of citrus (lemons), yeasty, floral, and herbal. Tastes of floralness, bready, citrus, and spices. Not a gusher, but after pouring out half the bottle and setting the bottle on the table, the foam starting creeping out of the bottle after a few minutes.

On tap at Capital Ale House - Downtown on 08/26/2008. Hazy orange body with a small white head. Caramel citrus spice aroma. Orange, spicy, fruity flavor with pepery hints. Medium body with moderately high carbonation. 7/3/8/4/15 - 3.7 Bottle on 07/15/2008. Cloudy orange body with a large rocky white head. Belgian spice aroma with some citrusy and floral hops and caramel. More hop flavor, lots of spice, sugar and fruit. Medium full body withvery high carbonation. This is so carbonated, that i can’t seem to drink it more than a few sips at a time before being forced to vent carbonation, certainly rate limiting. 7/2/8/2/15 - 3.4

Bottle at Derby Festival ’08. Many thanks to haddonsman for this one. Hazy gold with a white head. Yeasty hop aroma. Sweet, leathery taste of bread and pepper, alcoholic and warming. Sharp bitterness. Full of interest and character after a session of British cask ales.

Pour a clear glowing golden with some particulate, lots of bubbles and a very large thin sudsy white foam on top. Floral and fruity hop aroma, a bit spicy, with sweet candy malt underneath. First taste has bit too much dulling alcohol, fruity, lightly sweet, a bit spicy, yeasty, nutty, slightly cheesed hops, mostly noble hops in the flavor a touch of citrus in the finish. Long perfume floral aftertaste. Creamy mouthful with a slight fluff, not sticky at all, medium/full feeling with lots of medium sized but soft carbonation.

Bottle 75cl @ Zythos Bier Festival 2008, Sint Niklaas, Belgium. Clear medium yellow color with a average, frothy, good lacing, mostly lasting, off-white to white head. Aroma is moderate malty, toasted, moderate hoppy, pepper. Flavor is moderate sweet and moderate to light heavy bitter with a average to long duration. Body is medium, texture is oily, carbonation is soft. (010308)

Cracked Kettle. A well done hopped-up Carolus. Golden body with big head. Fruity and sweet nose. Hoppy taste, with citrus too. Dry bitter finish. Pretty good.

THOUGHTS: One of the few Gouden Carolus beer I had not tried at this point. It was nice, but probably my least favorite of the bunch. It might have beer slightly skunked, The cork was in a little funny. It was sort of like Duvel, but not as quite as good in the flavor department. It hid the alcohol well. This one was a little too bitter for my taste. TECHNICAL: Bottle. Poured a murky, and unusual, orangey yellow, similar to La Fin Du Monde. It also had a large to huge, creamy and slightly rocky, slightly off-white head that slowly diminished, keeping a nice sheet and leaving thick, excellent lacing. The aroma was moderate to heavy bread; moderate flowery, perfumy, grassy, citrus and earthy hops; light to moderate yeast and orange rind. The initial flavor was sweet and slightly bitter; while the finish was acidic, bitter and lightly sweet with a long duration. The flavor was malty, with citrus orange rind, then bitter, earthy and floral hops, yeast and then metallic hops. The light to medium body was somewhat dry with very fizzy carbonation and a light astringent, slightly metallic and dry finish.