Day 3 - Gouden Carolus Christmas
Het Anker are definitely big boys of the Belgian scene, although they still are a member of the 'Belgian Family Brewers' and they're producers of seasonal beers throughout the year.
Christmas is no different and here's their offering. I'm beginning to see a pattern emerging with Christmas beers. They're very strong (haven't had one under 9% yet) and they love liquorice!! There's a quaint, night-time snowy scene with Santa and his reindeer flying over - very festive and heart-warming. This beer also has the strength to warm you up on a winter night.
Gouden Carolus Christmas is all about liqourice. It's a very dark beer with a lovely deep ruby colour; certainly one to admire with a good creamy head, too. I was enjoying it in my new Gouden Carolus glass which, for some reason, is only 25cl - odd!
Aromatically, you've guessed what's coming: liquorice... and not a lot else. I tried and tried but wasn't finding a lot else. I left it and took a break to come back for a fresh approach but just couldn't glean a lot else.
It obviously continued through to the mouth and aftertaste (lots!) but rather than it obscure other flavours, it was the only one! It wasn't a bad beer, just pretty one-dimensional. One thing I should commend it on is the control of its strength (10.5%); it's a very smooth and sophisticated effort.
I'm hoping that the next few beers on the list aren't a bunch of liquorice allsorts but if they are, maybe it's a Belgian Christmas tradition that I'm oblivious to! We shall see.
Gouden Carolus - 6
Christmas rating - 8
http://www.hetanker.be/DeBrouwerij/AlOnzeBieren/GoudenCarolusChristmas/tabid/67/language/en-US/Default.aspx
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