Belgian Ales Part 2

So, Part 2 of my personal mini 'Belgian Beer Festival' and blogs (Part 1) with the 7th to 12th Belgian ales, all contained in the box in the photograph above, and reviewed here [there may just be one more 'bonus' ale to come, again, for comparative reasons]. Interestingly, I have just discovered as I research for/write this that the 3 different breweries' 2 ales each are all brewed by just the ONE brewery, that is Brouwerij Van Steenberge! I shall explain further as I go through the ales, again, all bottle-conditioned, and brewed at the over 200 years old Brouwerij Van Steenberge (website), no doubt how Lidl could offer the deal at such a reasonable price... 😉

The Bornem abbey ales (above and below) have been brewed by Van Steenberge since 1971, but remain linked to the roots of the Sint-Bernardus Abbey in Burnem, which was closed in the 18th century, but then re-established in 1844. The Dubbel (above) is the only example of a Dubbel in my dozen beers featured in these 2 blogs. Dubbels are like the strong dark milds of Belgian ales, not as strong as Tripels, but this one still weighs in at 7.2%, so, not to be sniffed at! This is a very dark brown/ruby ale, fruity, rich, smooth and sweet to taste, not bad at all, despite my preference for the more bitter and pale golden Tripel style; I gave it 6 out of 10.

The Bornem Tripel is much more to my taste, pale golden in colour, and at 9.0%, a tad more to it! The aroma gives a hint of a darker fruity ale, but the flavour is more complex, a touch of sweetness, but with a lovely dry bitter finish to each mouthful. My notes say "very good" which is reflected in my score of 8 out of 10.

And the last 4 ales are all a whopping 10.5% in strength!

The name of Gulden Draak (Golden or Gilded Dragon) comes from the legend of the Gulden Draak that originally adorned the bow of an early 12th century Viking Ship, then was atop a dome in Constantinople, from where it was brought to Flanders by Flemish Count Boudewijn in the 13th century ending up in Bruges; and from where it was finally removed as a spoil of war by the victorious Ghent forces following the Battle of Beverhoutsveld in 1382. It has since remained at the Ghent Belfry, guarding the people of Ghent and symbolising freedom and power (visitgent).

The importance to the Brouwerij Van Steenberge of the history behind the Gulden Draak beers, their Titans, has seen the brewery create their own dedicated website. The first Gulden Draak I tasted, and I admit to having drunk this in Brussels towards the end of the last millennium, when I called it a "Christmas Pudding of a Beer" - a description my brother (who lived in Belgium at the time) liked enough to use himself. So, to the Gulden Draak Classic, as I intimated above, a majestic 10.5%, and which remains a Christmas pudding of a Beer! The brewery state this is a Tripel, but not a pale golden one, but a dark ruby red in colour, rich, full bodied and full of flavour. Indeed, the brewery liken it to a barley wine, which ages and develops well with time due to the secondary fermentation in the bottle following the addition of wine yeast; they recommend keeping 75cl bottles for many years to mature! Unsurprisingly, it scored 9 out of 10.

Similar to the Gulden Draak Classic, the Gulden Draak 9000 quadruple is 10.5% in strength, and the secondary fermentation in the bottle is created by adding wine yeast. It has very complex flavours, but is dissimilar in that this is paler in colour, more of a dark amber/blonde beer with a hint of red, and having a big fruity aroma and a much fruitier flavour; so not quite the same impact, but it's very good still, and scored 8 out of 10. 

Following the success of Gulden Draak, Brouwerij Van Steenberge created Piraat in 1988, again 10.5% in strength, but a blond ale. Piraat is slightly sweet and spicy at first taste, but with a much more bitter finish. Similar to Gulden Draak they add wine yeast to create the secondary fermentation in the bottle. I certainly liked this, and gave it a score of 8.5 out of 10.

The Piraat Tripel Hop (10.5%) set me a conundrum, do I prefer this to the Westmalle Tripel reviewed in my last blog?!? 😕 Well, it's likened by the brewery to the American Pale Ales that were influenced by hoppy craft beers first created in the USA, and that have become popular in Britain and, indeed, which I do like a lot, as regular readers of this blog will realise! It's a golden ale with 4 different hops added to the original Piraat, and unsurprisingly has a big hoppy fruity aroma, a hint of citrus in the taste, and a lovely bitter finish. I rated it "very good" in my notes but couldn't give it the same score as Westmalle Tripel, so I gave it just 9.25 out of 10, but who knows, if I get to taste it again... I shall have to keep my eye out for more! 😄

I hope you have enjoyed these 2 Belgian Ale blogs, look out for a bonus 😉 Cheers!