Gulden Draak Imperial Stout

Over the next days, will present four different brews from the world of Belgian beer, all available from The Belgian Beer Shop. Today, we start we the Gulden Draak Imperial Stout (2018 Limited Edition). This is a dark brown to black-colored beer and is the heaviest beer in the Gulden Draak range with its 12° alcohol. The typical roasted taste is obtained by adding roasted, caramelized malt that is used exclusively for this. When tasting this specialty beer you discover aromas of banana and chocolate. The secondary fermentation works beautifully and will perfectly balance the higher alcohols. It is a very well-balanced heavy beer, providing a rich and powerful aftertaste (vansteenberge.com). Highly recommended, especially for the heavy beer lovers.

About Gulden Draak Imperial Stout (vansteenberge.com)

Colour: Deep dark
Alcohol by volume: 12%
Aroma: Chocolate and banana
Flavour: Rich and powerful, roasted grains
Finish: Bittersweet

Awards (Guldendraak.be)

• 2020 – European Beer Challenge London, Imperial Russian Stout – Gold
• 2020 – USA Beer Ratings, American Porter and Stout – Bronze
• 2019 – New York International Beer Competition – Gold
• 2019 – European Beer Challenge – Double Gold
• 2019 – World Beer Awards, Stout & Porter Belgium – Bronze
• 2019 – World Beer Challenge – Gold
• 2019 – London Beer Competition – Bronze

About Imperial Stouts (Tastings.com)

Imperial stouts are dense, opaque black in color and strong in alcohol, typically ranging from 6.5-12%. These beers usually have a note of sweetness and contain burnt cocoa and dried fruit flavors. They are stronger versions of the original stout style and were first brewed by the British to withstand the rigors of export to Russia and the Baltic states. The style was nearly extinct until its revival by the British brewer Samuel Smiths in the early 1980s. In recent years, imperial stouts have been embraced by US craft brewers and are quickly becoming staples of many brewers’ growing seasonal portfolios. Noteworthy examples of this style include: Rogue Imperial Stout, Thirsty Dog Siberian Night, Deschutes The Abyss and Oskar Blues Ten Fidy Imperial Stout.