Gulden Draak

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

Dark color. Very carbonated. Smell of prunes, nuts, alcohol, caramel, brown sugar, figs, plumes, spice and bread. Taste of prunes, nuts, hops, alcohol, caramel, brown sugar, figs, plumes, spice and bread and roasted malt.

From bottle. Pours a velvet brown with a big lively tan head. Quite attractive. Smells of clove, cinnamon, allspice, and caramel malt. Big syrupy palate, with rich flavors. Flavors are heavy on the dark fruit (perhaps cherry and plum),with sweet touches of sugar. Finishes sweet with hints of champagne, and is loaded with spice and fruit so as to make this big beer balanced and tasty. Really nice beer!

0.33 l bottle. Ruby color with big beige head. Malty, spicy and vinous aroma with tart dark fruits and almonds. Malty, toasty and vinous flavor with dark caramel, almonds and dark fruits. Becomes very meaty and vinous with sediment. Alcohol makes this beer very warming but does not add a great deal of complexity as one would expect from a 10.5 abv beer.

750ml bottle from BevMo! Mission Valley. Pours a cloudy brown that has a big touch of amber to it. Minimal head. Nose is slight with a lean towards marshmallows. Touch of citrus. Flavor is very well balanced with a strong sweet tone that stays constant. Strong and steady. After a while you get a slight alcohol tone that has stayed masked consistently as you drink. Tons of things rolling over your tongue on this one. Caramel is another. Mouth feel is a bit too high on the carbonation, which drops the drinkability just a touch. Overall damn good. Worth trying. Worth trying again.

11.2 ounce bottle part of a mixed 6 pack that I purchased at the Davis Food Co-Op. Vinous, sweet, caramel, grapey aroma with some ethanol presence. A little fruity ester aroma is also in there. Transparent ruby-amber body with a nice, creamy light tan/off-white head. Great lacing. A very attractive brew. Starts a little spicy with a hint of sweetness and a bit of ethanol. Becomes fruity and estery with some strawberry-like flavors. Becomes a little dry and roasted/toasted towards the end. This is warming, and lightly bitter. Decent.

Tap. Pours a dark murky reddish brown with minimal tan head. Nose is dark fruits, caramel topping and soap. Taste is dark fruits, cherries and malt with a medicine, cherry cough syrup-like finish. Medium mouth feel. Hides the alcohol well. Interesting brew.

From the tap poured a nice brown color with a good amount of head. Nice spicy flavor with a ligering finish.

I agree with the other review that said the beer does a very nice job of hiding the alcohol. Very smooth and slightly sweet taste. Good foamy head and amber almost reddish color. Would enjoy again.