Gouden Carolus Classic - Brouwerij Het Anker

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BA SCORE
91
exceptional
-
493 Ratings

rAvg: 4.1
pDev: 11.46%
Reviews: 352
Hads: 141

Ratings Help

Brewed by:
Brouwerij Het Anker

Belgium

Style | ABV
Belgian Strong Dark Ale | 8.50% ABV

Availability: Year-round. bottle (320), on-tap (32).

Notes:
No notes at this time.

View: Beers (17) | Reviews (9) | Events (0)

Reviews

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Reviews by acsprouse:

acsprouse

South Carolina

4.5/5 rDev +9.8%

02-17-2013 06:04:03 | More by acsprouse

More User Reviews:

johntfox

Florida

4/5 rDev -2.4%

05-21-2013 18:21:30 | More by johntfox

Sludgeman

District of Columbia

4/5 rDev -2.4%

05-19-2013 23:45:55 | More by Sludgeman

BeerPunk1312

New York

2.25/5 rDev -45.1%

05-19-2013 03:13:00 | More by BeerPunk1312

Hermthegerm

Pennsylvania

4.25/5 rDev +3.7%

05-13-2013 00:09:07 | More by Hermthegerm

BeerForMuscle

New Jersey

4/5 rDev -2.4%

05-12-2013 20:09:42 | More by BeerForMuscle

Stugotzo

Florida

4.25/5 rDev +3.7%

05-12-2013 15:57:38 | More by Stugotzo

GRUUMSH

Belgium

4.25/5 rDev +3.7%

05-10-2013 10:17:41 | More by GRUUMSH

Ohio

3.41/5 rDev -16.8%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.25 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

330cl bottle purchase for 2.42 Euro at G20 Supermarches in Paris (their "supermarket").
Best by date 1/17/16.
Sticker on the bottle boasts the "Worlds Best Dark" award at the World Beer Awards.

Clear, dark amber elixir poured into snifter. Thick, off-white head, settles to thin rim with plenty of lacing.

Huge biscuit malt predominates, caramel, subtle spice.

Malt bomb, some caramel, sugar, alcohol. Dark fruit at the end--prunes.

Medium body, highly carbonated.

Hits the mark for its style, but within that category is above average.

Serving type: bottle

05-07-2013 17:19:17 | More by CaptCleveland

lostrikis

Spain

4/5 rDev -2.4%

04-29-2013 20:02:19 | More by lostrikis

Jason1337

Pennsylvania

3.25/5 rDev -20.7%

04-24-2013 15:51:58 | More by Jason1337

hotsudge

Ontario (Canada)

4/5 rDev -2.4%

04-20-2013 00:53:50 | More by hotsudge

Danobold

Texas

4/5 rDev -2.4%

04-16-2013 03:39:46 | More by Danobold

Darkmagus82

Montana

3.61/5 rDev -12%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5

Poured from bottle into a chalice glass

Appearance – The beer pours a dark brown color with a one finger cream colored head that fades relatively quickly. Upon fading, over about a one minute time period, a lighter level of lace is left on the sides of the glass.

Smell – The aroma is a mix of a lightly roasted and bready malt as well as aromas of sweet sugary and darker fruit smell. The heaviest of the malt is a roasted barley malt but there are notes of chocolate and coffee mixed within as well. The sugary smells are mainly of a caramel nature and are mixed with fruit aromas of a raisin, prune and fig. Rounding out all these are aromas of some alcohol as well as some spicy smells and a bit of an earthy hop smell.

Taste – The taste begins sweet with flavors of a caramel and a whole lot of dark fruits. The dark fruits are mainly of a prune flavor but have some hints of a raisin and fig flavors mixed within. There are flavors of a roasted malt breadines upfront as well, which ends up fading ever so slightly as the flavor advances. As the breadines fades, a coffee and chocolate taste begin taking its place. While the flavor advances further, so too comes some of the spice flavors that were detected in the nose (nutmeg and cinnamon). A rather decent potent rum flavor as well as a bit of a woody and earthy flavor then come to the tongue more at the end where it melds well with the prune and darker chocolate and coffee flavors to leave an odd warming flavor to linger on the tongue.

Mouthfeel- The beer is on the medium side in terms of its thickness and creaminess with a carbonation level that is on the average side. A little lighter of a body may actually have suited the odd mix of fruity flavor and darker flavors better due to the complementation of the fruit and drinkability and lessening of the chocolate and coffee flavors.

Overall – The chocolate and coffee flavors were a little odd in this brew and took away from the nice blend of fruit, malt and rum tastes. Not bad, but not the best Belgian strong dark out there

Serving type: bottle

04-13-2013 00:58:34 | More by Darkmagus82

Janeinma

Massachusetts

3.75/5 rDev -8.5%

04-12-2013 00:33:19 | More by Janeinma

mick303

Ontario (Canada)

4.19/5 rDev +2.2%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4

Pours a dark brown, nearly opaque. With some light it shows off some ruby colour. With a creamy head of tan foam, really good lacing. 4

S- brimming with rich malty notes, coffee, syrupy dry caramel. Bitterness is quite light, some herbal and woody notes. Some earthy spice notes coming through, some rummy alcohol spice. Very nice and balanced. 4.25

T- creamy roast malt, a pleasant light alcohol prickle but it is very well hidden, slight tobacco, some dark cocoa, caramel sweetness on finish. Raisin, dried cherries, a bit of wood, light clove pepper and spice, some molasses sugars. A bit of a dry finish, clean barley note. Balance is very well executed. 4.25

M- remarkably smooth, this has a satisfying malty body. Definitely some warming alcohol. A little soft carbonation to liven it up, it is no doubt a big rich beer but has a nice clean finish. 4.25

This is very easy to drink. A satisfying malt-forward dark ale. Offers a really smooth flavour profile with dry dark fruits and some interesting malty esters with quite a low bitterness. It is quite well executed. Probably not my favourite but still a very nice and interesting beer that is worth checking out.

Serving type: bottle

04-08-2013 22:02:18 | More by mick303

cdmillard

Maryland

4.25/5 rDev +3.7%

04-06-2013 10:49:37 | More by cdmillard

newton99

Belgium

4.14/5 rDev +1%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Beer is a dark chestnut brown, decent-sized beige head. OK retention, decent lacing.

Smell is quite big. Contains raisin, date, chocolate, nuts, yeast and a bit of alcohol. Quite malty, with some caramel notes.

Taste is like the smell, but sweeter than expected. Raisin, fig, chocolate, caramel and bread. Brown sugar. More alcohol than expected for 8.5%. A good but fairly standard BSDA.

Full bodied, moderate to high carbonation. A bit bready, some alcohol heat.

Overall, quite tasty. Not a world class BSDA but a very nice one.

Serving type: bottle

Serving type: bottle

04-04-2013 09:52:21 | More by newton99