Gulden Draak (Dutch for ''Golden Dragon'') is a dark Belgian

beer Beer is one of the oldest and the most widely consumed type of alcoholic drink in the world, and the third most popular drink overall after water and tea. It is produced by the brewing and fermentation of starches, mainly derived from ce ...

with high

alcohol by volume Alcohol by volume (abbreviated as ABV, abv, or alc/vol) is a standard measure of how much alcohol (ethanol) is contained in a given volume of an alcoholic beverage (expressed as a volume percent). It is defined as the number of millilitres (mL) o ...

(10.5%), brewed by

Brouwerij Van Steenberge is a brewery in Ertvelde, East Flanders, Belgium. Beers * Augustijn * Bornem Blonde * Bornem Double * Bornem Triple * Celis White * Gulden Draak (Dutch for Gilded Dragon) (10.5% ABV) * Gulden Draak 9000 Quadruple (10.70%) * Leute Bokbier * Pi ...

Ertvelde Ertvelde is a village of the Belgian municipality of Evergem. Eddy Wally used to have his legendary show venue in the village-centre, called "Paris, Las Vegas". The Brouwerij Van Steenberge is located in Ertvelde. The brewery produces Gulden Dra ...

East Flanders , native_name_lang = , settlement_type = Province of Belgium , image_flag = Flag of Oost-Vlaanderen.svg , flag_size = , image_shield = Wapen van O ...

. It is named after the golden dragon at the top of the belfry in

Ghent Ghent ( nl, Gent ; french: Gand ; traditional English: Gaunt) is a city and a municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of the East Flanders province, and the third largest in the country, exceeded in ...

.Van Steenberge Brewery - Gulden Draak
/ref> There are several variants, including Gulden Draak 9000 Quadruple.

Aroma and taste

Gulden Draak has a strong scent of alcohol, which hampers the ability to easily define its aroma. Still, there is a powerful fragrance of

barley Barley (''Hordeum vulgare''), a member of the grass family, is a major cereal grain grown in temperate climates globally. It was one of the first cultivated grains, particularly in Eurasia as early as 10,000 years ago. Globally 70% of barley pr ...

, ripe

plums A plum is a fruit of some species in ''Prunus'' subg. ''Prunus'.'' Dried plums are called prunes. History Plums may have been one of the first fruits domesticated by humans. Three of the most abundantly cultivated species are not found i ...

, and

cherries A cherry is the fruit of many plants of the genus ''Prunus'', and is a fleshy drupe (stone fruit). Commercial cherries are obtained from cultivars of several species, such as the sweet ''Prunus avium'' and the sour ''Prunus cerasus''. The nam ...

. Different testers worldwide mention a sweet coffee aroma. Compared to the aroma, the taste is influenced somewhat less by the alcohol. It hints at sour cherries and

brown sugar Brown sugar is unrefined or partially refined soft sugar. Brown Sugar may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Brown Sugar'' (1922 film), a 1922 British silent film directed by Fred Paul * ''Brown Sugar'' (1931 film), a 1931 ...

. The aftertaste is somewhat bitter. Gulden Draak also has a high alcohol content for a beer at 10.5%. Gulden Draak was awarded the best-tasting beer in the world in 1998 by the American Tasting Institute (now ChefsBest).Van Steenberge Brewery - Gulden Draak
/ref>

Color

Dark with caramel-colored foam head.

Process

Akin to the other special beers of the Brewery Van Steenberge, Gulden Draak is a high fermentation beer with secondary fermentation. For the secondary fermentation, a

wine yeast The role of yeast in winemaking is the most important element that distinguishes wine from fruit juice. In the absence of oxygen, yeast converts the sugars of the fruit into alcohol and carbon dioxide through the process of fermentation.Jeff Cox ...

is used.

Fermentation Fermentation is a metabolic process that produces chemical changes in organic substrates through the action of enzymes. In biochemistry, it is narrowly defined as the extraction of energy from carbohydrates in the absence of oxygen. In food ...

happens both in the bottle as in the barrel, which ensures a preservation for years.

Packaging

Gulden Draak is packaged in 33, 75, and 150

centilitre The litre (international spelling) or liter (American English spelling) (SI symbols L and l, other symbol used: ℓ) is a metric unit of volume. It is equal to 1 cubic decimetre (dm3), 1000 cubic centimetres (cm3) or 0.001 cubic metre (m3). ...

bottles with a white plastic coating, and in

kegs A keg is a small barrel. Wooden kegs made by a cooper were used to transport nails, gunpowder, and a variety of liquids. A keg is normally now constructed of stainless steel, although aluminium can be used if it is coated with plastic on ...

of 30 litres.

Origin

The legend of the golden dragon (Gulden Draak) says that it was first featured on the prow of the ship with which the

Norwegian Norwegian, Norwayan, or Norsk may refer to: *Something of, from, or related to Norway, a country in northwestern Europe *Norwegians, both a nation and an ethnic group native to Norway *Demographics of Norway *The Norwegian language, including the ...

king

Sigurd Magnusson :''Sigurd Magnusson was also the name of Sigurd I of Norway.'' Sigurd Magnusson (ca. 1180 – 3 April 1194) was a Norwegian nobleman who campaigned against King Sverre of Norway during the Civil war era in Norway. Background Sigurd Magnusson was ...

(Sigurd Jorsalfar) sailed in 1111 to go on a

crusade The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and sometimes directed by the Latin Church in the medieval period. The best known of these Crusades are those to the Holy Land in the period between 1095 and 1291 that were i ...

. Sigurd offered the statue to the emperor of

Constantinople la, Constantinopolis ota, قسطنطينيه , alternate_name = Byzantion (earlier Greek name), Nova Roma ("New Rome"), Miklagard/Miklagarth (Old Norse), Tsargrad ( Slavic), Qustantiniya (Arabic), Basileuousa ("Queen of Cities"), Megalopolis (" ...

(the current Istanbul) to put it on the cupola of the

Hagia Sophia Hagia Sophia ( 'Holy Wisdom'; ; ; ), officially the Hagia Sophia Grand Mosque ( tr, Ayasofya-i Kebir Cami-i Şerifi), is a mosque and major cultural and historical site in Istanbul, Turkey. The cathedral was originally built as a Greek Ortho ...

. Over a hundred years later, the

Flemish Flemish (''Vlaams'') is a Low Franconian dialect cluster of the Dutch language. It is sometimes referred to as Flemish Dutch (), Belgian Dutch ( ), or Southern Dutch (). Flemish is native to Flanders, a historical region in northern Belgium; ...

count Baldwin IX had transported the show-piece to the Belgium regions. The Norwegian dragon ended up in the hands of

Bruges Bruges ( , nl, Brugge ) is the capital and largest City status in Belgium, city of the Provinces of Belgium, province of West Flanders in the Flemish Region of Belgium, in the northwest of the country, and the sixth-largest city of the countr ...

. After the battle on the field of Beverhout in 1382, the inhabitants of Ghent took their spoils of war, including the dragon and put it on top of their Belfry, where all communal charters were kept. The dragon had to protect these documents and it was also the symbol of the freedom and might of the city. The brew-master gazed upon this statue and was founded with inspiration to create and thus name the ale. Dragon has no feet, don't ask why because a 5th generation brewery owner will not have a good answer.

Variations

The 10.5% abv ''Gulden Draak 9000 Quadruple'' is a pale

quadrupel A Quadrupel (Flemish for 'quadruple') is a type of beer, with an alcohol by volume of 9.1% to 14.2%. There is little agreement on the status of Quadrupel as a beer style. Writer Tim Webb notes that similar beers are called ''Grand Cru'' in Bel ...

variant of the dark brown ''Gulden Draak''. It is named after the postal code (9000) of the city of

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

. Three different kinds of malt are used in brewing; for secondary fermentation a wine yeast is used. ''Gulden Draak'' is packaged in a black bottle in volumes of 33, 75, and 150

, and in

of 30 litres. There is also ''Gulden Draak The Brewmasters Edition'', where the regular ''Gulden Draak'' is left for a period in a used whiskey barrel. In addition, there is a 7.5% abv ''Gulden Draak Vintage''.{{cite web, url=https://www.ratebeer.com/beer/gulden-draak-vintage/52828/, work=ratebeer.com, title=Gulden Draak Vintage

References

External links

*http://www.vansteenberge.com/ *http://belgium.beertourism.com/belgian-beers/gulden-draak

Gulden Draak Gulden Draak (Dutch for ''Golden Dragon'') is a dark Belgian beer with high alcohol by volume (10.5%), brewed by Brouwerij Van Steenberge in Ertvelde, East Flanders. It is named after the golden dragon at the top of the belfry in Ghent. There ...