Gulpener WinterVrund (2008-)

A royal Special top-fermenting beer for a heart-warming wintery day...

New recipe, ingredients: water, malt - barley, wheat, hops, spices. NOTE: 2008 is actually released in the winter 2008/2009.

3.1

179 reviews

Gulpen, Netherlands

Community reviews

3.5 Fles 30cl thuis. Mout, caramel, zoet, hop, bitter, kruiden. Lange nadronk. (1-2013).

3.2 330ml bottle from trade with Kerlschdrinker, i think, or could’ve been shivandragon. Thanks to whomst it was. Pours a clear amber with a reddish hue, small creamy off-white head. Aroma seems focussed on toffee malt. Taste is similarly toffee-centric, smooth light and moderately rich with a strong sweet character. Ok.

3.8 Fles thuis geprobeerd met LiekevdV. Het is een robijnrood bier met een beige medium schuimkraag. Het aroma is caramelachtig. De smaak is moutig, fruit en caramel.

3.1 Bottle @ home. Pours dark brown and quite clear with a small white head. Smell gives a lot of malts, caramel and a slight hint of charcoal. Taste gives the same malts, caramel and charcoal with more sweetness and a slight hint of chocolate. Overall, a pretty okay beer that doesn't particularly stand out either way.

3.2 (Draught at Arendsnest, Amsterdam, 21 Feb 2018) Ruby colour with lasting, beige head. Malty, slightly roasted nose with caramel, red fruit and dark bread. Malty, roasted taste with notes of caramel, chocolate, dark fruit, cherries, bread and a balanced spicy bitterness in a finish with a slight acidity. Almost full body, with a certain sweetness. Tasty and well balanced. Quite enjoyable.

3.9 Van de tap in Hotel Buiten, erg leuke locatie aan de Sloterplas, adres waar ik vaker ga komen! Kastanjebruine kleur, beige schuim. Lekker zoet, suiker. Wist van te voren niet hoeveel alcohol ervin zat, maar aardig zwaar.

3.1 Draught at Bret Amsterdam. Dark ruby with a solid head. Aroma of sweet boozy malt. Flavour is fermented red fruit, caramel and astringent candy (if that makes sense)

3.4 Nice to taste something a bit different, interesting, but not too much to my taste.

3.3 Bottle at home. Pours a dark, almost black colour; the light that shines through has a dark red colour. Tastes sweet like dark fruit and caramel.

2.3 Light cola pour. A: cola, malts, light dark fruits and prune, cherry, alcohol. T: quite astringent start for this style, ammonia. Improves but still not very good, metallic, sour prune, faint malty note. Overall not very enjoyable unfortunately.

3.9 Zoet kruidig donker winterbier met een iets bittere afdronk wat snel verdwijnt. Al met al een prima winterbiertje. Ik had een modernere versie gedronken in februari 2018.

2.6 300ml bottle - thanks Koelschtrinker! (5:4:5:3:9=2.6) Woooof! Solventy aroma, sweet, acetone. Copper, ring head. Sickly sweet solventy boozy taste, dark honey sweetness. Does improve with each sip, but I still don't like it much - it's messy. Until... holy shit!!! This smells like a fucked-up Rochefort 8. This is a fake belgian, I can believe they harvested the yeast. Final sip was somewhat like gingerbread. Very messed-up brew, sweetness and solventiness bad.

2.5 300ml bottle. Clear dark brown color. Tiny size, beige head, stays. Sweet, caramel, herbal, do I get anise as well in aroma? Sweet, caramel, bready and booze in taste. Caramel, sweet, booze in aftertaste. Sweet and boozy. Average brew.

3.2 At Taverne De Grenssteen, Vaals. Shared with Anke. Pours hazy amber/brown with a lasting, off-white head; decent lacing. The aroma contains caramel or candi sugar, licorice, hops & spices, some candied fruit and herbs. It tastes medium caramel-like sweet and light spicy bitter; the finish is spicy, tea-like herbal and alcoholic. Medium body, slick texture, fizzy carbonation. Too simple in aroma, not warming enough...

2.8 06-12-17 // bottle thanks to koelschtrinker. Clear dark amber. White head. Strong dark malty, mild dried fruits, molasses.

3.3 Fles. Goed winterbier, mooi van kleur en vol van smaak met verschillende elementen.

3.3 Weicher malziger Beginn mit süßlicher Tendenz, die aber nicht zu stark ist. Geringe Alkoholnoten, etwas kräutrig, hefig, moderat herb. Rund würzig. 9/10/11/11/10/11

2.8 Bottled at home, gift from my wife. Dark brown colored, small beige head. Complex nose of roasted malts, caramel, molasses, and quite some spices. A lot less complexity in flavor, roasted malts and spices, quite harsh, unrefined. Promising nose, disappointing favor.

3.3 Winterbier met een zoet-kruidige smaak en dito aroma. Karamel, gebrande mout, anijs. Prima.

2.9 a very watery winterbeer. not really on par with the other big brewers who offer winterbeer.

3.3 Ruby red with a cream brown head. Lots of smell of caramel, a bit too much for me. I would prefer it more with less carmel. Soft bitters.

3.5 Robijnrood bier met weinig schum. Smaak is licht bitter en zoet met iets van karamel en drop. Gewoon een goed en degelijk winterbier.

3.4 Bottle. Color: Ruby to chestnut brown, fast disappearing beige head. Taste: Sweet malts, spices, cinnamon, licorice. Hints of chocolate. Finish is tending more to the bitter side. Medium body, soft carbonation. Nice winter warmer.

2.7 33cl bottle at home. Pours a clear dark brown colour with no head. Aroma of spices, malts, red fruit, caramel, grain. Taste is sweet, soft bitter with a soft bitter finish. Notes of raisins, red fruits, caramel, malts, grainy, chocolate. Texture is watery to oily, medium bodied with flat carbonation.

2.9 Amber donkerood helder bier. Creme schuimkraag die goed begind maar later geheel weg is. Ook geen laagje. Je ruikr direct karamel, ook iets donker fruitigs. En een lichte kruidigheid.De smaak, zoals de geur doet verwachten, is karamelzoet licht kruidig en licht bitter. Wat alcohol verwarming op het einde en licht geroosterde mout. Medium body.... Zoet en plakkerig mondgevoel.

3.2 Flesje (30 cl). Robijnrood tot bruin bier met redelijk stevige, licht beige schuimkraag. Het aroma verraadt de caramelsmaak al. In de smaak komt ook het fruit naar boven. De caramelsmaak blijft lang hangen.

2.3 33 cl bottle at home. Pours clear brown with low off-white head. Aroma: juniper, skunky, plastic. Taste: Medium sweetness with medium bitterness. Notes of spices, licorice, caramel. Texture is oily with low carbonation.

3.1 Gulpener’s winter ale, apparently in its second emanation. ’Papery’ lacing, thick, frothy, pale greyish beige, stable head over a clear, dark ruby red brown coloured beer. Straightforward aroma of damp cloth (as always with this brewery lately), coriander seed, stewed beef, roasted walnut, toast, caramel, jute bags, soggy breakfast cereals, iron, biscuit, milk chocolate bars, dried banana, butterscotch, chicken soup and, unsurprisingly, the cooked smell of pasteurization (why?). Rounded, clean, sweet onset of raisin, brown sugar, baked banana with a dash of blackberry sourishness; medium carbo, supple and slick mouthfeel, with a slight metallic ’zing’, feeling very industrial. Thoroughly caramelly malt sweetness (and dull chicken food corn sweetishness!) ensues while the dried fruit and brown sugar sweetness continue - expectedly resulting in a notably sweet middle phase. Retronasal soapy coriander shows up but manages to remain fairly subtle in spite of my expectations; finish also adds a splash of wry, gin-like alcohol and slightly peppery, herbal, tea bag-like and softly bittering hoppiness, but primarily ends malt and brown sugar sweet. Simple, straightforward and cliché: this is obviously a redundant beer, since there are many more comparable (and sometimes much better) examples of this particular style in Belgium. The coriander, though playing an important role here, did not bother me as much as the lager-like ’damp cloth’ odour, something it shares with many other Gulpener beers including their standard lager. One for the uneducated masses, too sweet, too simple and very stereotypical. Gulpener was relatively interesting ten years ago, before the Netherlands experienced an incredible craft beer revolution, but clearly this brewery urgently has to come up with something more exciting if they want to survive in a quickly shifting Dutch beer landscape.

3.8 Bottle 30cl. [160312] @friend’s birthday party, thanks Arjen! Poured into a chalice. Deep ruby brown, small foamy tan head, mostly diminishing, light lacing; aroma roasted malts, caramel, licorice, dried dark fruits, hints of juniper and bay leaf; taste is light heavy sweet and slightly bitter, malty, toffee, raisins, dates, licorice, average to long duration, sweetbitter finish, spicy notes joined by some alcohol; full-bodied, creamy texture, soft carbonation; wonderfull warming winterbeer. Earlier Rating: 1/10/2014 Total Score: 3.8 Sweet malty nose, vinous, brown sugar, fruit syrup, bread, herbs, cloves; clear deep amberbrown, average frothy tan head, slowly diminishing, good lacing; taste light heavy sweet and medium bitter, roasted malts, licorice; full body, creamy texture, soft carbonation, smooth sweetbitter aftertaste with laurel and licorice in the finish. Retasted 151021 same score (bottle 30cl from the brewery).

3.8 3/III/16 - 33cl bottle @ home - BB: XII/2016 (2016-249) Thanks to Anniek and Bart for the bottle! Clear red brown beer, big creamy beige head, pretty stable, adhesive, leaving a nice lacing in the glass. Aroma: ripe banana, lots of chocolate, caramel, bit sweet, malty, grains, little spicy. MF: ok carbon, medium body. Taste: malty start, lots of chocolate, caramel, bit sweet. Aftertaste: lots of dark chocolate, malty, some mocha, sourish, little bitter, alcohol touch, bit spicy. Surprised at the low scores. I didn’t think this was so bad...