Gulden Draak

Brewed by Brouwerij Van Steenberge
Style: Belgian Strong Ale
Ertvelde, Belgium

Serve in Trappist glass, Tulip, Tumbler

(bottle 8/19/11 at BJ’s Brewhouse Colorado Springs). Clear brown color. Large off white head, which is mostly diminishing. Moderate sweet malt, caramel, and sugar aroma with light alcohol. Flavor of the same with moderate alcohol. Avg duration. Moderate alcohol finish. Thin texture. High carbonation. Fair lacing.

What can I say, everything about this Triple is perfection. Light head, multiple layers of flavor, beautiful appearance, sweet aftertastes, everything I want in an ale. Be forewarned, however, it does not travel well if not maintained at the proper temperature (I prefer mine at ~10C, any colder and the flavor is ruined).

Given to me as a gift by a friend for my 30th birthday, enjoyed months later while watching the Packers vs. the Bears in week 3 NFL football with a good friend. Appearance a copper amber with thin white head. Aroma not really too apparent, bit of belgian candi, also a bit of pepper. Taste sweet with a pepper kick, can’t really put my finger on the sweetness but it definitely has a fruity character, possibly some type of berry. Definitely balances out nicely. Good stuff!

Now this is one amazing dark tripel! This brew pours up a rich dark brown colored body with an incredibly frothy tan-colored head loaded up with amazing retention and lacing! Scents of hot caramel, buttery toffee and dark fruits (like plums or dark cherries) along with slight hints of bananas or warm banana-nut bread. Hearty flavors of caramel and toffee are largely present followed up by a smooth, creamy, non-bitter finish with just the right amount of alcohol taste to the brew. Take your time with this brew as it is definitely not a quaffer (as I cannot stand beers like that!).

Pours a deep red color with a tannish bubbly head, aroma of dark fruits, mostly cherries with booze and a litlle plum I want to say. Taste of black cherries and plums little raisin aftertaste left over in my mouth. Im a little disappointed with how bubbly the mouthfeel is with this, I was expecting as they quoted a" thick" beer. Still, pretty good overall

Pours a medium brown with abundant, thick head. Carbonation seems a little on the high side on the palate. Aroma underperforms, which is a little disappointing, but shows up mostly as malt with some very minor fig, raisin and toffee tones. Overall taste is sweet malt, with medium tones of fig, raisin, toffee and a little alcohol. But the main feature here is sweet malt. Finishes slightly dry, but not uninteresting at all. This is a quality Belgian in the middle range for complexity and depth, so that balance might be it’s strong point unless you’re looking for something more distinctive. Probably an ale that would age well given the alcohol and decent amount of complexity. Whether it’s worth adding to the cellar of my favorite Belgians...I’m not so sure, but it seems like you couldn’t really go wrong. I would probably not be inclined to make room for it.

This beer pours into a trappist glass with a very nice dark brown color and a medium caramel head. It smells of chocolates and fruits and a small hint of booze. The taste in this beer is very layered, first with a sweet grainy chocolate followed by fruits then a boozy coffee flavor to finish it off. Overall this is a good beer and as one of my favorite styles does the style proud.

Pour from a 12 oz bottle. Muddy dark brew with thinish brown head. Aroma of molasses, dark fruit 9figs, raisens) and alcohol. Taste follows the aroma with a boozey kiss at the finish. Very sweet, seems a little fetid but tastes OK. Sticky palate.