Folks, if there’s one thing that I and Taco Mac have in common, it’s…well, we both love beer. And Football, too, so I guess that’s two things. Buffalo Wings might be three. It seems I’m kind of meandering here and getting off track, so I’ll give you one more thing we both enjoy: Christmas, be it in December or July. Now, everybody loves Christmas in December, but some of us celebrate it in July as well. For my part, I stash away holiday beers to enjoy during the heat of July, and to see how they’ve aged over the preceding months.

Taco Mac does the same thing, releasing kegs of Christmas Ales in July that they’ve been hoarding all year. One of the most interesting this year has been Gouden Carolus Christmas Ale, aka Gouden Carolus Noel. Gouden Carolus Christmas Ale is a rich and warming Belgian strong ale from Belgium’s Het Anker brewery. Het Anker traces its roots in Mechelen all the way to the 15^th century. They once brewed beer for a local hospital, and recently opened a hotel on the brewery premises. No need to worry about a ride from here, my friends.

Of their Christmas Ale they say:

For more than 35 years we had to miss the Christmas beer but in 2002 the tradition was restored with Gouden Carolus Christmas. It’s a strong, dark ruby red beer with character and contains an alcohol percentage of 10.5 % alc.vol. Brewed in August, the beer rests a few months to reach an optimal balance. Three kinds of hops and 6 different kinds of herbs and spices define the rich taste of this Christmas beer. Top-class!

That’s right, 10.5% alcohol by volume, making this a sipper for sure. It was a bit pricey at $9 for an 11-ounce glass, but 20-ounces of this one was more than I wanted on a Thursday evening, and I’m willing to pay a little extra for such a treat aged for at least 9 months. In bottles, Gouden Carolus Noel (Christmas) runs $10.99 for a 750 or $18.99 for a 4-pack of 11.2 ounce bottles in the Atlanta area. One interesting aside, Het Anker also produces an Easter beer, one of the few breweries to do so.

My mug of Gouden Carolus Noel Christmas Ale arrived a very dark murky brown color with a light very creamy head of foam and spicy notes of licorice-Star Anise and light clove in the nose. Ta king a sip I get light roast and cookie sweet malt, Pfeffernusse gingerbread cookies sans frosting, brown sugar, and a warming alcohol finish.

This beer was amazing indeed, and something I’ll be wanting to pick up in bottles to age longer than a year. I’ll pop a bottle young too for contrast, but rtest assured this is a beer not to be missed, a true holiday treat for Christmas, whether in July or December.

Update 7/30/2018: Gouden Carolus Noel in July (again) pours to a murky chestnut color with a medium sized head of creamy tan foam and a wonderfully inviting nose of anisette and pfeffernusse cookies. Taking a sip, the beer is surprisingly medium in body but rich with licorice and brown sugar, and those delightful pfeffrnusse notes (again). It’s a little sour (just a little) and dark fruity like a Christmas plum. It’s spicy like a gingerbread cookie. Amazing.

And remember, try a new beer today, and drink outside the box.

*Pricing data accurate at time of review or latest update. For reference only, based on actual price paid by reviewer.

(B)=Bottled

(D)=Draft

 

 



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