Gouden Carolus Cuvee Van De Keizer Blauw/Blue

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

2006 bottle shared by Eric, thanks man. Pours a mahogany color, with a small white head. The aroma is full of banana and sugar notes, some funk in there too. The taste was very nice; a sweet malty body with some fruity, almost strawberry aspects. Very smooth and full mouthfeel. An excellent beer. A high level Belgian, and that is saying something for sure.

2006 bottle. Darker brown pour with a smallish head in a "Grand Cru of the Emperor" official glass. Wonderful sweet aroma of brown sugar, molasses, figs, raisins, cherries, and pastries. Flavor is pleasantly sweet with brown sugar and syrup, ripe vinous fruits (mostly cherry and raisin), candy, and cakes with a light hop bite left over. A stunner on the palate with light carbonation, a sweet sting, and the slightest bite. Wonderful. I think this matches Rochefort 10 and Westy 12 as one of my favorite non-sour Belgian beers. Wonderful!

750ml bottle (2007) shared with my buddy Blake. Pours a deep dark brown with a ruby hue. Light lacing was left on the tulip glass. Tons of candied fruit, cocoa dust and red vines? on the nose. Flavor was dominate with candied dark fruits (plums, raisins, black cherry), molasses and brown sugar. This is in my top 5 for Belgian Strong Ales for sure.

2008 bottle- Dark murky brown with a medium head. Very complex interesting aroma, sweet, a lot of dark fruit, espicially raisins, some toasted malt and molasses. Caramel sweet flavour initially, plums and molasses. Finishes with some pronounced but mellow spice and a lot of malt sweetness. The alcohol is evident throughout but low key. Complex and understated.

Pours a dark red/brown with frothy off-white head. VERY sweet aroma, probably sweetest aroma I’ve smelled in any Belgian. Aroma of cherries and dark fruit, sweet malt, fruitcake, and brown sugar. Taste is sweet with strong malt and fruit flavor, and mouthfeel is syrupy and thick. Very tasty, but definitely a sipper.

Clear dark amber pour with a dirty white two finger head. Dark fruit and candied sugar nose. Dark fruits and caramel malt in the taste as well as some light banana as well.

Tasted while on a trip to Tysons Corner (Vienna) Virginia. Picked up at Whole Foods Vienna. Recommended to me by a very helpful and friendly store clerk. Sampled in a hermetically sealed plastic hotel glass...yum. Pours somewhat thick, massive head, thick and off white color. The underlying beer is a reddish brown with some clarity. Aroma is spicy, with hints of caramel and brown sugar. Flavor is sweet, with a very candy like boldness. Finishes with a burnt caramel taste at the back of the tongue. Overall quite pleasant.

Pours a dark, reddish-brown with a nice head. The aroma is full of spices, with bits of malt coming through. The taste is amazing... three distinct hits, of spices, then yeasty malts, then the final aftertaste of alcohol to deliver the coup de grace. I’ve never had a beer that’s been this consistent (I’ve had 6 bottles and every one has been the same, even one purchased in Strasbourg and drunk in Belgrade a week later). Not only is it one of the most reliable beers I’ve ever encountered, it has the quality of the Platonic ideal of BEER, with all the components of yeast, malt, alcohol and spice dancing together in a perfect interplay. While I question the claims of the guy who recommended it to me of being ’better than Rochefort 10’, it has the ability to be drunk every night and not get old or be too intense in the way Rochefort 10 is. Amazing.