I just love great beer, don't you? This one's an excellent Belgian style ale from 2007, the Gulden Draak Vintage. Tasted Sunday, December 7th. Gotta be ready for the ferocious head when carefully poured from the 750ml. Nice lacing throughout. Color was almost exactly like looking at a glass of Coca Cola (sans the large bubbles and ice cubes). Just beautiful.
Smell had a moderate amount of "mustiness", which may or may not have been due to the glass I poured it into. Anyways, there's also caramel, toffee, and some kind of nut.
Upon tasting this year, the '07 Draak is showing it's colors almost perfectly. But on a most interesting note: the very first thing I realized also surprised me. This was was literally a flashback moment. And the beer that caused the flashback was more than worthy enough -Gouden Carolus Grand Cru of the Emperor. Pick any year. At a generic level, the Draak has a pretty close approximate "essence" of the Gouden Carolus. That perfect balance of sweet and sour, hinting almost at a Iambic essence. But then the serious malt backbone and precious yeasts, distinctive of this style of ale, all combine in just the right amounts to create just the right results.
Mouthfeel is noticeably "softer" after a year's aging. The vigorous carbonation is still there, but with a very smooth consistency- similar in some ways to a good cream ale. Very little if any "burn" from the modest but nevertheless present, 7.5% alcohol. And that's a good thing. Gives me a chance at something else when this one's empty.
All of this adds up to one outstanding beer. I had this beer once before, last year in '07 when I picked up two. One to try at the time, and one to age. Well, I'm excited to say the '07 Gulden Draak has aged beautifully during only it's first year in the cellar! I just hope I can find someone who would be willing to share their bottle a year from now.
I can say this with confidence: after not only tasting, but savoring the entire damn bottle, I feel that given just a little more time at only 2 years old, the '07 Draak will be at the top of it's game. I just wouldn't push my own luck going for three years, although I think it should be able to take more.
This is one of those real gems you find once in a while which doesn't take very long (or much waiting for in your cellar) to really mature!
Downers? Hmmm.... Maybe the fact I just poured my last bottle for this experiment. That's okay though. I enjoyed it tremendously and will treasure the memory. On the other hand... This year the '07 Draak is really that good. So if anyone has an extra bottle in their cellar, it wouldn't take much to twist my arm if they were willing to share their bottle with me next year...
1 comment:
Mustiness....good!!
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