Gulden Draak

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

to each ther own & inverse to their countries size, is the greatness of their beers for belgium. way tooooooooooooo much malt for me, no balance what-so-ever.malt, malt, and more malt!!!

330 ml bottle from a gift pack. pours deep maroon with a medium sized off white head that keeps rebuilding all the way down the glass. aromas are belgian sweetness with dark fruit and some yeast. flavours are pretty darn good with mostly sweet dark fruit and some yeast. sharps alcohol notes around the finish. a good effort. the best from the pack.

A stunning beer. It seamlessly pleasures the eyes, nose and tongue at the same time, something hard to do. The aroma is fantastic with accompanying sweet fruit character like apples, plums, and raisins. Hints of hops, alcohol, cherries, honey and caramel. Appearance is a deep dark brown, with ruby red edges and a huge eruptive off-white thick foamy head. It’s perfect in my glass. Taste leave clear notes of raisins, dark crystal malts, earthy notes, plums and raisins, scorched sugar and a nice touch of alcohol which compliments the whole beer very well. It’s never overbearing nor does it ever offend. It’s almost like a Belgian barleywine. Fantastic stuff.

330ml bottle
10.5% ABV
I tried this beer on December 28, 2007 at "Smokeless Joe’s" in Toronto. The white bottle caught my eye. This beer poured a dark murky brown with a generous tan coloured head. The aroma was strongly yeasty with a fruit backdrop, possibly plums or raisins. The mouthfeel was medium bodied, and very champagny. The flavour was malty, yeasty, and slightly sour.

Bottle (330ml). Poured a ultra dark brown (almost black) with ruby highlights and a huge tanned, frothy head which shrunk a fair amount. Aroma was complex with notes of plums, dates, prunes, some malt, mild vanilla, cloves and alcohol noticeably present. Taste was equally complex as aroma with an alcoholic start cancel by sweet dark fruit with notes of currents, prunes, dates, caramel and a light maltyness.

It’s a good beer. Pleasant surprise. I found that the malt flavor hung around a little to long. Not a perfect balance. Those were my original comments scribbled on a cocktail napkin after sampling 4 or 5 other beers. I’m having it at home by itself tonight and decided to re-rate. Pours a deep dark brown w/ an off white head.Aromas of yeasty malt and fruit. The balance is tilted to the malt side which bothers me for some reason. I still enjoy it and will buy again.

330ml bottle.
Pours a ruby brown with a humungo bubbly tan head with some staying power. Aroma is a mix of toffee, prunes, yeast, brown sugar and a slightly vinous character. Light prickly bubbles with a smooth oily texture in the mouth. Flavour is quite fruity with some hop character a reprise of that toffee nose. Semi-bitter finish with a long and warm biscuity aftertaste.

Ruby to dark brown in color with a foamy, even lather like, head. Little lace. Aroma is toffee, chocolate, dark fruit (figs, plums), caramel, sweet licorice, possibly orange peel. Carbonated and crispy light to the palate. I was quite perplexed at the first zip as it was so complex and full of flavor. There were hints of dark chocolate, licorice, apple… I would further never had guessed at the 10,5% strength. Nice bitter aftertaste.