Gouden Carolus Noël (Christmas)

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

Dark, murky brown color with a big creamy tan head. Sweet aroma of candi sugar, malt and caramel. Sweet malty flavor with lots of caramel, candi sugar and spices(nutmeg, anise). Very enjoyable.

Bottle from the Blue Max. Pours an amber brew with very little head. A fine example of the style. Loads of luscious exotic fruit esters from the Belgian yeasy strains. Man, what mastery. Even some funky spices tossed in there to make this even better. Rich and flavorful.

Pours a deep red-brown with an aroma of alcohol, caramel, toffee, candy sugar, and wood/ vanilla. Flavor is the same with earth, cinnamon, and spice added. Finishes with whiskey, earthy, sugar.

2008 750 mL bottle poured into a goblet. Pours a clear copper topped by a one-finger creamy head that lingers as a small cap for a few minutes and leaves good lacing. The aroma is fairly subtle and mostly sweet caramel malts and candi sugar. There are hints of spices but not much and certainly less prominent than the alcohol whiffs I got. The taste amps up the spices a bit with a definite peppery finish. The sweetness of the candi sugar and dark fruits are dominant up until the finish where the peppers and alcohol are more detectable. The mouthfeel is medium bodied and very smooth with decent carbonation. Its sticky sweet on the palate with the peppers tickling the tongue at the end. This is one of the better Belgian holiday ales Ive had, mainly because I actually enjoyed having that slightly peppery finish which differentiated it from a normal BSDA. Tasty.

I was surprised that I liked this so much, but I so did. Tasted of raisins, ginger, carmel, brown sugar, hints of indian food ingredients. aftertaste was like dishsoap and mint, but whatever.

Rating number 600. Last night was a 2004 bottle of Gouden Carolus Cuvee de Kaiser; tonight (Christmas day ’06) this 2006 bottle of Noel.

As before, the cork comes out with an explosive pop, though maybe not with quite the force of last night. The beer pours nicely but not with the full elegance of the other.

The aroma offers rich dark caramel again; orange zest and a bit of spice, dried fruit -- and the flavor comes through with bits of all of these, though dominated by spice and alcohol. Perhaps in part, the flavors of this young beer have not yet had time to meld and soften adequately.

The mouthfeel is adequate though not quite as luscious as the Cuvee de Kaiser, and overall the beer - while nice - pales in comparison that other offering from the same brewery.

Full aroma of sweet malt and belgian yeast thats completely decked out with spices. Appears as a bold dark brownish red and creamy head. The drink is perfectly balanced and still allows a strong domination of malt, sugars, and light dashes of spice. This ale gives off a warm presence of alcohol but also hides it beneath all of the flavors and full body creamness. Merry Christmas is very true if you have this during the holidays.

750 ml. Rich and sweet strong ale, but far from cloying. Plenty of complexity. Hazy brown body with a frothy, light brown head that diminishes to tan pools. Aroma of dark fruits, plum, clove, cinnamon, orange peel. The flavor is heavily sweet and lightly to moderately bitter. The finish is moderately sweet and moderately bitter with some light acidity. The alcohol is not apparent until the finish and even then is far from upfront. You can taste the candy sugar and fruits and get a hint of licorice. Medium to full body with a velvety texture and lively carbonation. Top-notch beer.