Gulpener WinterVrund 2008-

Brewed by Gulpener Bierbrouwerij
Style: Belgian Strong Ale
Gulpen, Netherlands

<i>Bottled at Monk’s Café Sveavägen, Stockholm. </i> Clear nut brown, rich firm head. Aroma of cardamom and caramel. Fairly sweet with rounded, somewhat syrupy mouthfeel. Lots of toffee and mildly warming with vague notes of metal and alcohol. Low bitterness.

Bottled. Nutbrown colour, mediumsized brown head. Aroma is spices, quite malty as well as some alcoholic stinging notes. Flavour is dark berries, some dark dry fruits, alcohol and some spices (cinnamon, cardamom, clove). Some slight hoppy notes, caramel also. Quite complex, and alcohol does give a punch to it. On the border to being a bit too much.

Bottled (BB 03/2009). Deep ruby red color, good creamy beige head, lace. Spicey (clove, cardamon) caramel malty aroma with metallic notes. Medium-bodied. Same spices in the flavor. Caramel malts, alcohol less dominant than 8.5% indicates. Feels more lager than ale. Similar to the old version, but this one has more body.

Bottle. Brown color. Malt, cinnamon and a hint of raspberry in the aroma. Sweet and sticky, slightly perfumed flavor, with cinnamon, cardemom and raspberry juice. Not my taste.

Small, light-greige head over clear cola-coloured beer. Sweet-spicy aroma, with ureum or old linen. Candi syrup or cassonade sugar. Touch of smokiness, but véry discreet. Soft-sweet taste, mild berries and soft caramelly malts. Bit of totally watered-down liqueur. Slick, soft texture, carefully avoiding any brusqueness. Soft. SOFT. This is THE winterbeer for wusses. It is, however, named after the wren. And those birds are anything but wusses. Shame&#033;

Bottle: Clear, deep ruby-amber coloured, foamy off-white islets on the surface; sweetish caramelly-fruity (dried fruits, as usual) nose; moderate sweet flavour, relatively light bodied; coriander (?) in the sweet-fruity finish. Not bad, but too tame........

Tap@LocusDelft. First glass from a new barrel. Grassy, light herbal, light malty, orange and bit alcoholic aroma. Clear, ruby/brown color, beige fine head, good lace. Sweet, rather bitter, well hopped, malty, prune, hint of licorice. Sticky mouthfeel, medium body, lightly warming. Nice.

Bottle from Bierkoning. Nice amber body with minor head. Sweet and fruit nose. Sweet with spicy flavours. Nicely balanced. Pretty good for a Gulpener.