Gulden Draak

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

Serve in Trappist glass, Tulip, Tumbler

Wow. Now this is an impressive brew. Very dark of colour, but hold it up to the light and it has a reddish hue. Beautiful currant aromas. Not much head to speak of. The alcohol volume is over 10%, and yet I have never tasted a beer that quite so well masks it as this. Sweet, thick flavour and a warming, lasting after taste. Very, very good.

first aroma is almost wine-y to me. then the whisky notes start to flood in. nice malt aroma. thick and sweet.

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.

UPDATED: OCT 7, 2010 Dark brown liquid, with a bit of redish in it. Very big, light head. Aroma of coffee, dark fruit and caramel. Taste the same, sweet taste. Very sweet taste. It can be degusted at all occasions. Also it tastes excellent in combination with some meals like ribs. 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 misses just a bit of body, but even with that, for me a great beer! Edit: Latest crate seems to be some less good, so cost some points... Hope this will be solved at next bottles...