Gouden Carolus Hopsinjoor

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

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.

750 cork&cage. pours golden with HUGE head. aroma is dominated by spice and yeast. there is a hint of citrus and floral hop. mouthful is pleasant with some bitterness shining through. finish lingers just a bit. decent.

a brew to be respected it is two different styles of beer combined. a simple statement but one that anyone with a sophomorish understanding of beer will eventually contemplate. out to prove a point and educational this beer is something to experience. the ying and yang... the Belgian strong augmented to it’s North American cousin it is intruiging and certainly fulfilling. banana spice with a Czeck and American hop spiciness to it. the type of brew that you know won’t work out but somehow does ok . It is something beautiful to experience in the glass and make sure to note its wonderful yeasty body. somewhere a brewmaster had a point to prove and i salute that person.

C&C 750 from LooseCanon - thanks! A bit of crust around the cork. Two seconds after removing the cage, the cork blows out with such force it knocked a chunk out of my ceiling. Pours with the biggest white head I’ve ever seen - the entire first glass was all foam, the second pour into my Duvel glass netted me 1/2" of beer and the rest foam. The beer itself is clear gold, well carbonated. Grassy nose, sweet grain, yeast and light fruit and biscuit. Rather dry and bitter, lightly spicy and a bit hot. Some grass and hay come out later. Odd beer, this one, but pretty enjoyable.

On tap at the brickstore. Not quite used to this combo of belgian IPAs but I can see there is some definite potential. Aroma is distinctly belgian with some yeast, earth, and must. Flavor is more on the IPA side. There is some yeast flavor in there as well but the hop flavors are sticky, full of resin, and some pine. Finish is a bit bitter. Color is a cloudy bright yellow. Get a bit of citrus in the flavor as well.

Tap @ Map Room. Pours cloudy yellow with thin head. I didn’t think it had a crazy hop aroma by any means, which is sort of what I expected. It had the classic Belgian yeast aroma. It did have some bitterness, but sweetness from the Belgian yeast as well. Decent beer though.

Pours a hazy golden-straw color with a massive, white, rocky head which takes a while to settle and leave minimal lace. Nose is okay; cobweb yeast, doughy yeast, herbal and grassy hops, faint citrus (lemon peel), and some cereal grains. Flavor is hoppy golden; light honeyed grains, faint sweet breads, moderate bitterness from light grass, herbal notes, faint spice, and light lemon peel hops. Yeast remains musty and cobweby. Palate is light to medium, lively, and drying. Finishes fairly long and drying with bitter, herbal notes remaining. Interesting hoppy BSGA but note really that unique. Hops control the beer but are not the best aspects of the beer. A nice hoppy Belgian but nothing is great about the beer. A great, very hoppy Belgain beer does not exist, as far I know.

THick lasting foam over a almost pilsner light beer. Much small debris in the beer. Typical belgian aroma with some fruit. Very much hops in the taste for a belgian beer but not over powering. A big body balance the bitterness and hop flavour. Not a big drinkability, one per evning is enough.