Gouden Carolus Noël (Christmas)

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

Serve in Trappist glass, Tulip, Tumbler

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Bottled. Purchased at Delirium Cafe. Dark ruby body with foamy brown head. Nose is malty with chocolate and spices (ginger and nutmeg) along with dark fruits and anise. Taste is malty and rich with chocolaty notes, dark fruits, and spices. Sweet and spicy would sum it up best. Carbonated with light sharpness. Finish is somewhat dry with cocoa, dark fruits and spice. Great beer!

Molto complessa, frutti rossi e noci in evidenza e spezie, scura con bei riflessi rossi e una abbondante schiuma color nocciola abbastanza persistente, alcolica ma alcol decisamente nascosto, molto beverina, aroma forte particolare di frutti rossi e maturi! Gran birra!!!

Fruity and rich and the strong alcohol content is hidden nicely in an explosion of flavors. Is somewhat reminiscent the Jägermeister.

A beautiful red beer with a thin off white head. Strong toffee aroma with alcohol and spice. Fruity flavor matched with a medium body. Good ripe finish that reminds me of the holidays.

Pungent nose full of brown sugar, dark cherry, yeast and licorice schnapps. Thick brown appearance with expected suspension. Flavor is heavy semi-sweet and perhaps smokey. Also very boozy. Thick and heavy, and the yeast are palpable. Great winter beer...looks like I grabbed it too late this year.

From the nose I am about to drink a big sweet caramel toffee beer (hints of liquorice). Which is what I got.

Appearance: a soft khaki head blankets dark woodsy browns with mahogany and cherry wood highlights when help up to the light. Head fades soft and bready, leaving patches of lace in its wake. Swirls with fluff and some bubbles.
Nose: cherry and chocolate powder. Nutmeg and allspice. Fig and date cake – dense with fig newton designs. Vanilla extract. Candied pineapple and cherry candies without the saccharine sweetness. Root beer candies.
Palate: root beer, cherry, and pineapple gummies. Maraschino cherries. Dried and sweet figs and dates. Spice in the finish – allspice and nutmeg. A gentle warmth of mulled sweet red wine. Plums. Fresh black cherries. Chocolate somewhere, nowhere, and everywhere.
Final Thoughts: delicious dangerously drinkable. I now have a new favorite Christmas seasonal to look forward to…until another ousts the Gouden Carolus Noel from its wintry throne.

This is a review of the 2008 brew which was stored at the brewery for two years and opened at the 16th Essen Christmas beer festival 2010. My bottle review wasn’t overly kind to this beer, what a diffence a couple of years in a cask makes! That review is at the end of this if you’re interested. The liquorice flavours that almost ruined my bottle review were almost completely gone, to be replaced by blackberries and plums. The aroma was Port like with sweet molasses and Christamssy spices added, as was the rich taste and mouthfeel. Someone mentioned ’cough sweets’ in the beer tasting notes at the festival and that is a good choice of the words too. That liquorice flavour from my bottle review now coming back into play as the mouth dries giving the beer an alcoholic, malty, cough sweet sort of taste. Anker matured this specially for two years, I thank them for that. 1st Review: Brown 33cl bottle, best before Nov 2009, drank Apr 2007. Poured into a Brugse Straffe Hendrik chalice. Lovelly dark ruby red, sadly the biege head soon departed leaving a scum, or if you like, a wisp on top of the body. The aroma was of sweet liquorice, nothing else could get past that smell in my bottle anyway. The taste was also of liquorice, but tempered with plums and Christmas spices. A sort of alcoholic liquid Christmas Pudding, with somebody adding liquorice. The flavour of liquorice stays forever, the mouthfeel is clingy and almost sickly, I had to have some Brie and salted biscuits half way through the beer to help me see it off. A warm fire and cold night beer, the liquorice almost ruined it for me, but it is never-the-less, a good Christmas beer. I think I have won the world record for mentioning ’liquorice’ in a beer review, please beermail me if you know different!

This is a big one... my first rating where I’d use the word ’complex’. I was smashed when I drank it though... but I clearly remember thinking of aniseed. Enjoy it.

My GF thinks this smells like Pine Sol - I can’t disagree. This is STRONG in both smell and taste. It actually does taste like a Christmas tree... interesting.

Dark cider/brown color; Medium slightly cream body; Aroma of sweet malt, yeast, rich anise/licorice, & fruit; Flavor of sweet malt, yeast, caramel, dark fruit (notably plums & dates), and licorice; Nicely balanced and complex; Overall, nice aroma - very good.