Gulden Draak

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

Serve in Trappist glass, Tulip, Tumbler

Draft at Tigin, served in a Gulden Draak tulip glass. Pours a cloudy brown-amber color with a two-finger thick, resilient beige head. Aroma of caramel malts, yeast, clove, dark fruits (figs, raisins, plums), and a good amount of booze. The same fruits lead the flavor, which is also big and boozy and rounded out by notes of caramel malts, yeast, chocolate, nuts, dates, clove, and earth. Medium-full bodied, with fairly low carbonation and a yeasty mouthfeel. This quad goes down easier than a lot of others even though the ABV is similar, and I can’t quite place why. Maybe because the fruit shines through a bit more than most.

Sampled on draft at the World Beer Festival Richmond, 6/12/10. Pours a clear brown color with a medium frothy head. Good head retention and lacing. Aroma of toffee, brown sugar, cherries and other fruity notes and a light tartness. The taste is caramel, toffee, cherries and berries and faint leafy hops. Medium-full bodied. Nice beer.

33cl bottle in Gent, the city of dragon. pours copper, dark brown, off-white head. aroma, dark fruits are there in mass, brown sugar. flavors, strong candi like palate, along with plenty of dark fruits and roasted malts, sugar leaves a syrupy finish with a med-high carbonation. Lots of booze throughout the tasting.

Den är mörkröd till färgen med en tjock vit skumkrona. Gulden Draak är bryggd med dubbla jäststammar. En vid första jäsningen som sedan filtreras bort. Därefter tillsätts en annan jäststam i flaska och på fat. Så vad tyckte vi? Vid en snabb googling på Gulden Draak ser man en bild vart ölen presenteras med mycket stort skum. Vi klarade inte av att få fram den samma skumtoppen, och jag tyckte faktisk att skummet var ganska tunt. Gulden Draak skal vara något liknande en Barley Wine, fast jag tyckte inte den hade värken någon särskild doft eller smak. Den doftar lite syrligt, men annars ingen ting. Smaken är inte så syrlig som doften kanske lovade lite, men heller en lite mörk karamellkänsla. Tycker den är lite i sötaste laget och hade hoppats på lite mer friskhet.

Decent triple but obviously doesn’t fit style. Aroma is faint but I picked up hints of dark fruit and maybe honey. Color is more like a quad than a triple but dryness is much closer to the style. Taste is brown sugar and dark fruit with a nice alcohol kick.

Pours a hazy brown-red, with a slight ecru ring and wispy lacing. Have to work hard to discern the aroma--very subtle, but a pleasant bouquet of fruits once detected. Some mustiness. Thin mouthfeel with mild effervescence--refreshing for a tripel. Complex flavor: alcohol predominates, with sweet fruit on the palate and malt in the background. A fine tripel.

330 ml bottle. Pours a dark brown colour with a large tan head. Smells of raisins and alcohol. Can also taste the alcohol as well as hints of banana among other fruits. A bit too much alcohol for my liking, but overall a solid drink.

Comes in a white 330ml bottle. Pours a dark red colour with a huge tanned creamy head. Retention is excellent and carbonation is very active. Lacing is chunky and fat. The nose shows the alcohol, but yet very well-mixed with red apples. Dry mouthfeel in the middle and without feeling a burn, alcohol is there. Smooth bitterness is present in the taste, with the apples showing up in the finish. Very nice drinkable strong Belgian ale, especially at 10.5% ABV.