Gulden Draak

I opened my bottle of Gulden Draak with some lofty expectations. For one, I paid five-dollars for the damn thing. Two, I love Belgian strong ales anyways. Three, this particular beer was highly recommended (top ten) by a friend of mine. And, four, the totally awesome bottle just had to be an indication of a totally awesome taste. Despite the cost of Gulden Draak, I was very generous, splitting the 11.2 ounces three ways. I was surprised to find that this golden dragon wasn’t golden at all, but a deep mahogany. The head was a caramely brown, but I didn’t think it was as intense as some other Belgians I’ve had. Upon my first sip, I remained incredulous--a little maltier than expected, a little too much alcohol taste, not as fruity as I wanted. Upon my second sip, I thought it was a little sweeter, with a little more of that chocolate/toffee taste that I just missed on the initial quaff. By the third sip, I realized, "Wow. This is a top fifteen beer." It began to warm up a little and developed the additional oak and wine sensations. I didn’t say a damn thing when one of the glasses holding a third of the bottle was handed back to me, and, by the time I had polished everything off, Gulden Draak had moved from a top fifteen to a top ten. This beer is worth the hype and monetary hit, complex and substantial.

Malty, Caramel, strong sweet coffee, yeasty, Bottle conditioned, Excellent, my #2 all time favourite beer.

Date: December 14, 1997
Mode: Bottle
Source: Sam’s, Chicago
Appearance: dark brown, frothy white head
Aroma: rich malt aroma with a hint of floral hops
Flavor: rich spicy malt flavor, light bitterness, hint of warmth

Date: January 16, 2003
Appearance: muddy brown with a fine tan head
Aroma: sweet malt aroma like chocolate cover raisons
Flavor: rich malt with the flavor of dates, hint of spicyness, touch of chocolate, no sense of alcohol

Date: November 14, 2004
Mode: draft
Source: summits
rich, fruity, stays true to the bottle

Date: May 17, 2005
Mode: draft
Source: brick
picking up some bitterness, still lots of rich fruit with a bit of sweetness, perfect creamy body

Aroma: 7/10; Appearance: 8/10; Flavor: 8/10; Palate: 7/10; Overall: 17/20
Rating: 4/5.0
Score: ***4

The score was calculated based upon the notes and an old scoring system.

At once I noticed a strong sweet taste. Almost like a wine. Gut a little too sweet for general drinking but nice Ale for a change. I let it become room temp and it was still nice and smooth. and sweet.

On tap. Dark mahogany with cream colored head. Honey aroma and taste. Slightly carbonated on the palate. The high alcohol was apparent at the end of the sip.

I REALLY liked this one. Poured a beautiful deep caramel color. Caramel malt aroma. Very complex flavor with malt, caramel and toffee. Very intriguing brew that packs a punch! Will definitely have again.

Red brown colour. Quite a strong, malty aroma. It’s fairly sweet and malty with a little caramel. Considering the high alcohol content this is fairly easy to drink. Texture is quite rich and oily.

[Sampled in july 2004 at the BÆNK.] Very strong alcoholic, but wonderful beer with notes of licorice, bitterness, caramel, warmneth, berries. Medium to fullbodied and a great burning aftertaste.