Gouden Carolus Easter Beer (2007-)

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

75 cL bottle. Pours cloudy orange with a thick off-white head. Light spiced towards plastic aroma. Flavour is sweet and with yeasty phenol notes. Mild caramel malt base. Something with the phenol notes disturbs me - not good.

Big thanks to theisti. This is the first Gouden Carolus beer I have ever not been gaga over. It pours nice enough with a thick muted golden body and a medium but strong head, which leaves a sticky lacing on the sides of the glass. The aroma right away presents my main distraction with this beer, a strong alcohol aroma which comes off as paint thinner or isopropanol-like. The other aspects, which are very nice are herbal honey, some golden syrup, and cereal. Taste also starts and ends with alcohol and has elements of light yeasty dough and thick biscuit. Some heat felt on the throat. Its all good but the alcohol is there and gets in the way.
750mL cork&wire bottle, Rodenbach GC smaller tulip, thanks again Tim.

So a bit more than a year pass and this beer is still in effect. The alcohol has calmed down. But it is still just a honey rich, golden syrup malt driven beer. A bit of the Belgian esters pop off to make some light apricot in there but that could also be the effect of residual alcohol. Its still a good beer but I expect more from a Gouden Carolus.

Draft @ redlight. Clear dark straw color, thin even white head. Candied light grain aroma with some sweet Belgian yeast characters. Sweet taste with some light peppery notes and a general herbal tone. Don’t get a lot of alcohol on the aroma or taste. Kinda your basic sweet Belgian golden.

I stumbled across this in a St. Louis shop during one of our "big city" outings. I didn’t know the Easter beer. Then it sat for several months until its rotation in the stash was up. It’s a delicious blond ale. Sweet and with a taste of apple. "You want more," I asked the wife. She nodded quickly.

Botle 0.75 l. Called Best Easter Wishes. Bought super Best Hilleroed. Color opaque yellow with huge whitehead. Aroma totally dominated by honey. TAste is also honey although with some added hops. Rch carbonation. Honey too dominating - there is nothing sweet about Easter although the sweetness might easen our burdens. I haven’t had so much honey in a beer sinceI tasted pure honeybeer more then twenty years ago in Zambia.

On tap @ redlight redlight! Pours a hazy-free gold with a nice white head. I’m getting bananas, cherries, spicy yeast and a little clove on the nose. The flavor is sweet malt, spicy yeast and slight cherries, candy sugar, and some alcohol. Nice spicy cherry-like finish on the back of the tongue. A solid big belgian beer with wonderful complexities!

Draft @ redlight redlight. Pours a golden blonde with a fluffy white head. Very balgian like carbonation, little streams of bubbles moving constantly up the glass. Aroma is light, but picks up steam as is warms. A slightly fruity, apple aroma with some bitter hoppiness. Thick medium body with a huge spicy malt taste. Much more of a creamy body then the aroma suggests. Complex taste, toffee like malt and big spicy hops that fight for attention. The hops almost overpower the malt due to there bitterness. The beers is also very clear, yet really packs a punch in terms of alcohol. As it warms a sour apple fruitiness and a little funk start to come out. Really good.

750 mL bottle. Pours sparkling yellow with a large, frothy, white head, lasting with good lacing. Aroma is heavy malt (bread, straw, cereal), average hops (flowers, grass), average yeast (horse blanket, barnyard), with notes of light alcohol, banana, pear, and butter. Full bodied, sticky texture, average carbonation, and a bitter finish. Long duration, moderate sweetness, acidity, and bitterness.