Gouden Carolus Cuvee Van De Keizer Blauw/Blue

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

Serve in Trappist glass, Tulip, Tumbler

send corrections   |   shelftag   |   edit barcodes   |   update pic

750 ml 2002: this is my favourite beer! Dark red lovely color, could just sit and sniff it for hours (actually did I think): nose is all about port and yeast, mouthfeel all seafoam and fizzy cream, reminds me of a chimay reserve. hints of raisen, cork, worthy of a habsburg

This beer has a brown body - hue apperance and a white scum collar. I have drunk the beer from the bottle and it had a no carbonic acid. The initial flavor tast was fruity with a strong afther tast.

Bottle. Tan head, brownish red appearance. Aroma is fruity, yeasty and spicy (coriander). Very soft palate, alcohol in flavor and aftertaste. Fruity and yeasty. Delicious.

750 mL bottle from 2004. Lovely dark red with a robust head. Complex very powerfull aroma. Hints of all sorts of dried fruit. Flavor a bit too sweet for me (and I tend to like it sweet). Some aging would probably do it justice.

750 mL bottle, snifter. Chocolate, molasses, caramel, coffee malt (H); doughy yeast (L); raisin, prune, anise, vanilla, pepper, toffee. Gorgeous ruby-brown body topped by a disappointingly cola-like head. Heavily sweet, lightly acidic flavor becomes a moderately sweet, lightly acidic finish. Does an excellent job of mimicing the aroma in the flavor. Medium body, creamy texture, average carbonation. The bottom line is: there’s no doubt this beer is tasty, it just lacks a little something to set it apart from many of the other Belgian Strongs. Still, worth every penny of the $7.50 I spent on it.

UPDATED: MAY 27, 2008 Re-Rate. A 3.7 is way too low for this beer. I think that it doesn’t reach potential until at least two years aging. I’m drinking a 2006 bottle now, and it’s rich and full like an old Samichlaus, concentrated raisin covered in syrupy chocolate, but not creamy; the flavors are full and difident, but there is a clarity to the mouthfeel that makes this very refined. Portish notes. The very little alcohol that is detectable is a perfect counterpoint to the rich flavors. Rich on the smell, too, with caramelized and syruped brown sugar and some flowerish honey notes. Wonderful beer.

Original Rating. Bottle (2004 vintage) into tulip glass; purchased at Discount Licquor (Milwaukee). Since I bought two bottles of the stuff, I decided to have one now and lay the other one down. While it was good now, every facet seemed like it was primed to age well. The smell was malty and bread-y with very noticable alcohol and an unpleasant acetone tinge. It smelled thick, and it was: syrupy, in fact. Soft carbonation helped the texture, but with the underdeveloped flavors, the syrupy viscosity got to me a bit. Dark reddish-brown in the glass, the head was initially very small and completely disappeared. Despite this, the beer left nice small-bubble lacing on the side of the glass, more so as it got down to room temperature. The taste and feel were much more like a barley wine than a Belgian strong in my mind. It was sweet with dark fruity flavors that I couldn’t distinguish and that I hope mature into complexity. 6/4/8/4/15= 3.7.

A nice color really complements an extraordinary aroma on this beer. Dark fruits, a little sweetness, and a lot of depth. Flavor has a nice softness to it, and manages to linger a considerable amount of time. A very nice brew.

Bottle. Mahogany, translucent edges. Deep fruity flavors, complex. Notes of cherries, green apples, and it’s unrealistically sweet. Between this and Vichtenaar, it’s the night of the excessively-sweet-beers-that-taste-kind-of-like-ci Warming woody malts in the finish; I can see how this would be great served cool in the winter. This is pretty much all ditto of what my bro said, except I liked it a little more...but it’s still not world-class for me.

What emperor is this the grand cru of? Deep, dark crimson in color, average sized beige head. Fruity, sweet aroma, cherries. Apples and more cherries in the taste, just too damn sweet though, easy guys! It had a syruppy feel to it as well that didnt set too well with me. Definitely drinkable, but I dont understand the hype with the rest of the ratings.

Red amber coloured beer with a small head. Malty aroma. Light sweet vinous taste with coriander and liquorice.