Gulden Draak

Brewed by Brouwerij Van Steenberge
Style: Abt/Quadrupel
Ertvelde, Belgium

Bottle. Dark amber colour with a medium bubbly head. Aroma is caramellic, malty with dark fruits, alcoholic, bit yeasty. Flavour is sweet caramellic, roasty maltiness, fruity, alcoholic, well lagered dark fruits, some spices. Sweet malty bit spiced finish. A good Strong Belgian Ale

330cl bottle. Pours dark red, almost brown with an off white, long lasting head. Sweet aroma with some sour-esque belgian yeast smell. Flavor is malty, alcoholic and rich with the characteristic belgian yeast taste. Hops balance it all very well. A very good quad, although my personal preference would still go to the Urthel Samaranth.

Ruby colour, off-white head. Ar: Yeast, jam, marmalade, honey, malts, dark fruits. F: big bite for the style, Yeast, jam, marmalade, honey, malts, dark fruits. M: Less aggressiv carbonation than usual, the liquid is a bit sticky. T: Like that his beer has less peonounced yeast character and a bit more hops than its colleagues

Poured from bottle. In a word: heavy. Toffee-caramel sweetness on the nose and on the palate; pours thick with an unremarkable head that dissipates quickly. Reminds me of a Scotch ale, but with an unpleasant, medicinal, bitter edge to it. Not very well balanced. I wouldn’t drink this again.

bought in Brugge supermarket and drank at home in Brazil. Very dark brown color with a fluffy beige head that has gone quickly. Aroma is dark fruity with alcohol notes. Taste goes at same direction as aroma but a little bit spicy with strong alcohol notes. Mouthfeel is short and spicy dry.

This beer is since some months my favorite to drink when I just want some beer... Nothing to special, but the taste is just so sweet, it can be degusted at all occasions. Also it tastes excellent in combination with some meals like ribs. And my woman use it from time to time to make some nice dinner (she is allowed... once I had a fight about "stealing my beer for food"... :) ) The bottle and glass looks a bit simple. But what’s inside is surprisingly good tasted. Only it should get, in my opinion, a bit "harder" taste to be excellent. The same taste, but just some "more", if you know what i mean... It’s weird the beer goes inside very smooth, maybe even to smooth for a beer with 10,5% alcohol... And I think that’s cause of the lack of the "hardness" of the taste. It’s like there is a little to much water inside or so...

Appearance: Pours a slightly translucent mahogany with a small gathering of white sudsy film at the top. Aroma: Raisins, sage, red grape skins, and cinnamon. Taste: Grape juice,white rum,pepper, a small dash of cocoa, and some herbal and spicy hops in the finish. Mouthfeel: Full bodied and fizzy. A tad syrupy. Overall: A really spicy, enjoyable thick sipper. Tons of characteristic and flavor.

750ml bottle into a Duvel tulip and chalice. I think this is about two years old. Pours brown with ruby highlights, nice big beige head, very foamy, retains nicely, Some large clumps of lace. Quite attractive. Aroma starts yeasty and a bit funky with raisins, apples, banana, balanced with healthy dose of sweet chocolate, caramel, and toffee malts. Complex and very nice. Flavor sweet chocolate, caramel, malty, with a good balance of apples, raisins and other fruits, some candy sugar and yeast/bread. Sweet overall, but incredibly complex and delicious. Some alcohol warming, but not hot in any way. I can see a fresh bottle having a bit of alcohol burn. Mouthfeel is full and rich, yet prickly carbonation, especially when first poured. The sweetness and fullness can become a tad cloying toward the end. I had passed this by many, many times, despite the beautiful bottle, being under the assumption it was a golden triple which isn’t one of my favorite styles. Really glad I tried this, Gulden Draak is incredible, highly recommended. Great depth, evolves tremendously with temperature. Not your average Tripel by any means.