Gulden Draak

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

Nice dark brown beer with light beige foam. Aroma is rich with hints of fruits, caramel, bread, malts and booz. Taste is good in balans, it has touches of caramel, port wine and fruits. Alc is well hidden.

Bottle. Pours a deep brown with a fluffy tan head. Aroma is sweet from the dark malts, and you can also detect a little raisin and alcohol. Taste is caramely and also sweet. Sits heavy on the tongue, and leaves a dry pear flavor on the palate afterwards. I enjoyed it.

Bottle. Poured a medium brown with a thick cream colored head. Aroma was full of both yeast and sweet malt notes. Flavor was sweet from the malts with a bit of spice as well. Very thick on the tongue.

33cl white bottle, as pictured. Pours a deep mahogany with an impressive beige head. Great retention, very little lacing. Indeed, this beer means business - there’s a strong alcoholic note in the aroma, also sweet apples, coriander and raisins. Heavy-bodied strong ale with a thick, creamy mouth feel. Very moderate carbonation. Taste reminds me of brandy a bit. Raisins, aniseed and koriander, sweet as cane sugar - with a bitter-ish malty middle and an alcoholic finish and after taste. Well, obviously it’s a matter of personal taste. I prefer my beer to smell and taste like beer. There’s a number of Belgian ales (triples and dubbels) that I like a lot - but invariably, they are the sour-bitter ones. This I don’t like, though, undeniably, it’s very good for its style and very well crafted. But not a beer I’d drink regularly.

Bottle from Mr Lawrence Wine Merchants, Brockley. Pours dark brown with an off white head. Very nice aromas of apples, pears, cinammon, coriander, chocolate, sweet spices. Flavours of pears, steamed apples, roasted malts, chocolate, nutmeg. Yum! Finsihes sweet and hoppy. Breathes fire into the soul!

Beautiful, thick brown molasses-type appearance, opaque at its thickest and tawny-amber when translucent. Strong aromas of apple and pear on the nose, along with bananas, cherries and an intense, almost prune-y sweetness. Taste is sweet, dominated by caramel malt flavors and notes reminiscent of birch or maple sap. In the Belgian tradition hop character is minimal, alcohol is strong, and the good brew is thick and delicious. I couldn’t ask for a better holiday feast compliment. The only gripe is the strength of the beverage causes heartburn.

Draft. Pours hazy chesnut brown with a moderate, tan head. Aroma of toasted malt, peper, raisin, fig, and hints of chocolate and dry hops. Fuller bodied with a thick, carbonated mouthfeel. Warm, quick finish. Very good quadrupel.

33cl bottle. Pours dark mahogany with no head. Only some small bubbles on the surface. Some lacing. Nose is nicely spicy and a bit sweet. Nice red fruits, caramel and some alcohol. Taste is quite sweet, some spices. Moderate bitterness. Finish is rather dry. Palate is very flat with only a small amount of carbonation on the back of the tongue. I don’t like this too much. some alcohol on the taste, quite warm. Nice beer but carbonation is too soft for me.