Appearance - 4 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 6 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 7.5

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.

Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 6 | Flavor - 6 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 6.5

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.

As Gerardus Winterbier.

Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 6 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 4 | Overall - 6.5

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.

Appearance - 7 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 7

Deep ruby brown colour, small foamy tan head, mostly diminishing, light lacing. Aroma roasted malts, caramel, liquorice, dried dark fruits, hints of juniper and bay leaf. Taste is light heavy sweet and slightly bitter, malty, toffee, raisins, dates, liquorice, average to long duration, sweetbitter finish, spicy notes joined by some alcohol. Full-bodied, creamy texture, soft carbonation, wonderfull warming winterbeer, good.

Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 7.5

Imported from my RateBeer account as Gulpener WinterVrund (2008-) (by Gulpener Bierbrouwerij):
Aroma: 7/10, Appearance: 4/5, Taste: 8/10, Palate: 4/5, Overall: 15/20, MyTotalScore: 3.8/5

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...

Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 5 | Flavor - 6 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 5

30cl Bottle from Lidl. Clear chestnut amber colour, white head. Aroma of metal, liquorice root, liquorice, some berries, amber malts, light fruity. Flavour is lost of liquorice root, amber malts, hint of toffee, bittersweet finish, some metal. Light bodied. Meh...Earlier Rating: 12/28/2008 Total Score: 2.8Bottle from Albert Heijn. Clear copper to purple colour, tan head. Aroma of sweet fruits, a little metal, some watery spiciness and alcohol. Flavour is sort of bittersweet, fruity, a hint of spices. Alcohol bittersweet finish. Medium bodied. OK.

Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 6 | Flavor - 6 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 6.5

Caramel aroma. Ruby color. Thin but lasting head. First touch is sweet, then with a hint of roasted bitterness. Medium body.
Earlier Rating: 12/29/2015 Total Score: 3.3
This beer resembles Gulpener Wintervrund very much. Actually they are from the same brewery. I don't get it why they produce two identical beer with different brands.

Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 5 | Flavor - 5 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 4

33cl bottle. Dark ruby pour, clear with a tan head. Smells like caramel and boiled corn. Bitter-sweet with a rough alcohol and a green beer feeling. Not too good.

Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 6 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 7

Bottle at THT. Spicy and dusty. Sorry I just moved in from a world where such a deScription was sufficiënt. Backlog from 2015/11/27.Earlier Rating: 12/5/2015 Total Score: 3.2Alsof er een suikerspin in je bek zit te schijten. Backlog from 2015/02/01. --- Beer aliased from original tick of Gerardus Winterbier on 27 Nov 2015 at 22:16 - Score: 6. Original review text: Spicy dusty --- Beer merged from original tick of Gulpener Wintervrund on 01 Feb 2015 at 15:51 - Score: 6. Original review text: Suikerspin