Gouden Carolus Cuvee Van De Keizer Blauw/Blue

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

2006 vintage, 750ml bottle shared with heavy whom I thank for ordering this at the Hopdevil.
The strongest, the best rated beer from what could be my favorite non-trappist belgian brewery. I came with great expectations.
Poureed a lovely dark deep red colour with a creamy off white head that went away at a medium pace. The nose showed some of the complexity this beer possesses. Chocolate, malt, raisins, a touch of coffee machine coffee, caramel and alcohol.... The taste was sweet, pleasant and complex. Malt, a touch of brittle, sweet, chocolatey, some typical belgian yeastiness, caramel, tobacco,fruity, bananas dipped in sugar and then covered by chocolate, coffee and caramel again and... green tea? (was I hallucinating?). Dryish bittersweet finish. Yup, a great beer. Didn’t strike me as the best that Het Anker does, but the best they do is stellar, and this isn’t far away.

2006 vintage, caged 750. Malty, vinious, little head that quickly dissipates. Big fruity flavors up front, alcohol in the middle, malt in the finish. No discernable hop notes. Just big, fruity and malty. Het Anker continues to do a solid job with this big boy.

2006 bottle, tasting mighty fine these days. This has always been one of my fave grand crus, for its rich and full palate, for the beautiful pour with the billowy biscuit head atop the dark copper body, and of course for the flavors. Certainly it’s malt-a-licious, but the dominant flavors are raisins/prunes with a slight tartness giving it balance and complexity. Will no doubt be better with age, but it’s lovely as is.

Bottled, 2006 vintage. Pours hazy mahogany brown with a minimal fizzy head that settles into fine lacing. Aroma of raisins and banana dominate, with a hearty malt background. Sweet Belgian candy sugar is also noticeable. Flavor is quite smooth, mostly raisin, plum and dark fruits, with some sherry/port flavors. Finishes with a tingly palate, but the alcohol could be more balanced. Good beer to age for another couple of years.

2007 version. Pours dark brown with medium beige head. Complex malty aroma with notes of dried fruits and yeast. Flavor contains malt, dates, prunes and yeast. Well balanced - very nice beer.

750 Ml Bottle-2006 vintage-Dark copper/amber color w/almost no head. Looked a lot like a Barleywine. Drank this beer way too young, it just wasn’t ready. Had some sweetness & spice to it, but the flavor was very rough, almost had a musty/wooday presemce to it. Kind of a thick consistancy. Needs some time to mellow out, I’d recomend several more years.

Vintage 2006. Pours a deep ruby color with a barely-there head. Syrup consistency, almost like a heavy liqueur. Aroma is dark malt with a yeast and hop characteristic. The flavor is largely malt with yeast included as well. Very thick beer, and the thickness somewhat takes away from the overall experience. i had great expectations of this beer, but it left me a tad disappointed.

Vintage 2006. Dark syrupy character with a thin head that faded a bit towards the end. Great aroma of yeast and dark malts. This beer just melts in your mouth! Excellent! Great beer with a flavor of blue cheese and yeasts, very smooth and extremely well-balanced. Nice thick finish of malt and notes of hops. This is something you have to keep in a cellar!