Gulden Draak - Brouwerij Van Steenberge, Ertvelde
Style:
Tripel
Serving Type:
Bottle
Alcohol by Volume:
10.5%
Aroma:
Yeasty monk cookies. Caramel and stewed oranges come to mind, so does buttered toast with cinnamon sugar
Appearance:
Much darker than I expected. The body is opaque and dark brown in color. Topped by a persistent head of off white colored bubbles
Flavor:
Sweet caramel up front, becomes tart orange and cinnamon when it reaches the back of your tongue. Finishes with a slight alcohol burn
Mouthfeel:
Big and smooth, just a little harsh on the finish due to the high alcohol content.
I've overlooked this beer for far too long. I've heard stories about how great this "Dark Tripel" is, but I've never bothered to get a bottle for myself. Well, I picked up an assorted six pack of stubby little Belgian bottles about two months ago and it actually had a bottle of Gulden Draak packed in. Between packing, moving and unpacking I've been neglecting my beers so this has been sitting in the back of the fridge for quite some time now. In some ways I'm glad I saved it, a dark and sweet Tripel is sounding really really good right now...
This beer is pretty much what I was looking for. It smells like a caramel covered cooked orange slices and buttered toast with cinnamon sugar sprinkled over it. This is the aroma I look for in ever Tripel, even if it isn't fair to expect all Tripels to smell this way... I just love when they do. The flavor is just as good, even if not all the aromas translate truthfully into the flavor.
When I took my first sip of the Gulden Draak I enjoyed the caramel and sweet orange flavor right away. As the beer moves toward the back of your tongue the flavor becomes more like the spicy cinnamon you taste in whiskey. The finish is smooth aside from a little alcohol burn right on the back of the tongue. It's worth noting that this beer is 10.5%, so even though it comes in a stubby little bottle it definitely packs a punch.
I don't have much bad to say about this beer. It's pretty great all around. Even though the finish isn't as smooth as I'd like, I'll cut the Gulden Draak some slack because it is 10.5%. If you're in to Belgian ales and have been putting off the Gulden Draak for some reason, like I was, you're really missing out.
Oh, one last thing... there seems to be some debate about what style the Gulden Draak actually is. Some beer sites list this as a Quadrupel, others say it's a Strong Ale or Dark Ale. I've categorized this as a Tripel because that's what the brewer has it listed as, and I'll take them at their word because this beer is quite delicious... regardless of style.
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