Gold Dragons Are The Best Dragons

Today in BrewSounds I want to talk about our first foreign beer. It's dark. It's big. And it's from Belgium. 

It's a Belgian Strong Dark Ale.

Belgian beers and breweries are know to be some of the best in the world. Besides being home to six of the seven Trappist monasteries that brew beer, Belgium has the largest collection of breweries in Europe outside of The U.K., France and Germany with around 125.
Belgium's long history with brewing has created some of the most refined beer and styles on the planet including Lambic, Saison, Dubbel, Tripple, Quadruple, Blonde, Wheat, Belgian Pale Strong and todays style of choice, Belgian Strong Dark Ale.
Belgian Strong Dark Ale is a most closely related to the Belgian Dark Ale, obviously. Richer malt, higher abv, ect. Bigger in every department.

Brewery:
Brouwerij Van Steenberge N.V.
Lindenlaan 25 - B-9940 Ertvelde, Belgium
http://www.vansteenberge.com/

Name/Style:
Gulden Draak Dark Triple/Belgian Strong Dark Ale

ABV(alcohol by volume)

10%

Now, right off the bat some of you might have said to yourself, "It says Dark Triple in name. Why is this guy calling Gulden Draak a Belgian Strong Dark Ale?" The reason is simply that it does not technically fit the description of a Triple. They range from pale yellow to a sort of burnt orange. They tend to be sweet, but also have a lighter body all while keeping a high alcohol content. Belgian Strong Dark Ales tend to be sweet, have a thicker body and are dark with high alcohol content. Just like Gulden Draak. Hence, I am calling Gulden Draak a Belgian Strong Dark Ale.

The brewery website also calls Gulden Draak a "Barley Wine". But enough nit picking about styles. Let's talk presentation! 

Gulden Draak is a beauty of a beer. When poured into a tulip is produces a thick, chewy dome of head the color of butter pecan ice cream. The beer itself is a hazy dark brown bordering on raisin. The aroma is uncomplicated. Big on the alcohol, sweet malt and red grape. 

For an ale that has such a simple aroma Gulden Draak has quite a complex taste. The Spice and sweet malts blaze up front along with the grape presence. Grape is not too common a quality in brew, but it is delicious in this one. Toffee and yeast notes make themselves known along with a menagerie of subtleties that are hard to describe. There is a lot going on in here. I know there is a lot of alcohol, but other than a faint peppery spice it makes its appearance only in the warming sensation it gives me. Rich, smooth mouth-feel. Thick and almost slimy, but not going to far with it. Looooooong finish that is a pleasantly sweet and a touch herb-like. 

Musical Pairing:

Artist:

Gojira

Song:

Where Dragons Dwell

Album:

From Mars to Sirius


Gojira are a (believe it or not) totally awesome French metal band. I know, I know. A good French metal band?! These dudes write some seriously thick, heavy tunes, though. Some of the mid and late 2000's best metal riffs came off their albums From Mars to Sirius and The Way of All Flesh.

Cigar City Needs Our Help

Hello BrewSounders,

This post today might be old news already to some beer advocates, but Florida's best brewery Cigar City Brewing is facing a serious problem from the City of Tampa Council. In a recent vote that would have cinched up CCB's wet-zoning permanently, which gives the brewery the right to serve alcohol, host special tasting events and sell their own beer at the brewery, the city council voted 3-3. That means the vote did not pass, which means that Cigar City must now have a majority vote on the next two votes for the wet-zoning to become permanent. If they do not get these votes the brewery will have to close down their tasting room by December 16th. One member of the council failed to show for the vote, potentially causing the 3-3 tie.

Below I have linked the contact info for each of the council members. Please take the time to write the council members who voted in favor of the wet-zoning becoming permanent and thank them for their understanding of the importance of this tasting room to this local business.

Also, please write the members who voted against the wet-zoning. Plea to them to please understand that to continue to vote against this zoning will cost people their jobs, cause the brewery to lose the valuable ability to sell their own product on location, and will be a loss for the city of Tampa. 

And most importantly please write the council member who was absent for the vote. Help him understand the importance of his vote in this matter.

Do be respectful. Do be sincere. Please don't write to them with some rant because that will accomplish nothing.

Thank you all for reading BrewSounds and thanks to all who take the time to write or call the Tampa City council members.

Council Members Against Passing Wet-Zoning

Gwen Miller

Thomas Scott

Curtis Stokes

Council Members For Passing Wet-Zoning

Mary Mulhern

Yvonne Yolie Capin

Joseph Caetano

Council Member Absent For Vote

Charlie Miranda

Some points to make in your statements to the council

• Never have their been  police called to the brewery for any reason. This is not a bar. This is a tasting room of which its clientele are people who are passionate about craft beer and are not there to party. It is not a bar. It is a tasting room.
• CCB has never had a violation of any kind since its inception over two years ago.
• In that two years CCB has gone from 2 employees to 22 employees. In a time of economic crisis that is no small contribution to the Tampa community.
• CCB has put Florida on the map as a beer lovers destination. Any who are craft beer lovers who read blogs or follow beer websites know that people travel from all over the country to visit CCB's tasting room for one-off brews and to tour the facility. 
• Besides the totally screwed up laws on distribution in Florida which take a heavy toll on all Florida breweries, taking away CCB's ability to sell their liquid awesomeness on site and host totally awesome events that are often involving other breweries and people from other parts of the country would be devastating to the viability of CCB. 

Bad Business 101

Today in BrewSounds I want to talk about honesty.

Honesty is of utmost importance in any relationship. It's the glue that keeps us together. It's transparency allows us to see each other for who we really are. 

What we like and don't like. What we loathe and what we love.  

 This applies whether we are talking about work or family. 

Friends or a mere acquittance. For some this takes longer to learn than others. I, for one, have been on both sides of dishonesty and can tell you, truthfully, both sides suck. It is the side that creates the dishonesty, though, that does the damage. Ruins marriages, breaks up families, tarnishes reputations and puts the "bad" in "bad business" like no other.

But, it's not just about being honest to others.

We must be honest with ourselves. We need to have a realistic and honest knowledge of our strengths.

And of our weaknesses.

Knowledge of ones own weaknesses can be used towards bettering oneself. Or it can be used to create a mask. To create a false impression. To make oneself appear bigger and better.

We all must avoid this for it is a trap. 
Each time we lie a bar is created. And with enough lies and enough time we are surely and inevitably surrounded by these bars. Trapped within them, sometimes to never escape.

Be honest with yourself. Be honest with the ones you love. Be honest with the ones you work with and for. And if you are a brewery don't ever, ever, ever be dishonest with craft brew people. We will see through your mask. We will know you for what you are. And we will talk about you, in a very honest fashion, with our friends and our family.

Brewery:

Fort Collins Brewery

Fort Collins, Colorado

www.fortcollinsbrewery.com/

Name/Style:

Double Chocolate Stout/American Double/Imperial Stout

ABV(alcohol by volume):

8.1%

This was my first Fort Collins Brewing beer I've ever tried and as I told the woman at the store, I was excited to try it. I love a good Stout as much as the next guy, but I am crazy for a good American Double Stout. The usual characteristics of an American Double Stout are similar to a Russian Imperial Stout, but taken to the typical American craft beer extreme. Big roasted malt profile, many brewed with chocolate or coffee, high alcohol content, large hop bite, full bodied with rich textures and a sweetness that remains as an aftertaste. Some are also aged in whiskey or bourbon barrels to make them even smoother.

FCB's Double Chocolate Stout states on the label, "Roasted malt, rich chocolate overtones, coffee undertones and impeccable balance."

Not quite.

I believe what they meant to say was huge coffee overtones with a hint of chocolate that actually mostly serves to make the bitterness from the hops, roasted malt and coffee even stronger. This bitterness goes looooong into the finish, which ends up dry. The body is too thin for the style, partly due to overcarbonation. The only part of this beer that really is characteristic of the American Double Stout style is the appearance. Opaque, dark brown with 1 finger of light tan colored head. Remember what I said earlier about masks and appearance? This is, to me, an example of a brewery trying to make their product look bigger and better than it truly is. FCB calls this one time release their "Most decadent creation." 

"Decadent" is a bit of a stretch. "Deceitful" is more like it.

Now, please understand that after all this ranting this beer is not a bad beer. It is a decent bitter Stout with emphasis on the coffee, but to call this a Double Chocolate Stout is just ridiculous. Anyone who likes and knows anything about a big, thick, awesome American Double would agree. Stout, yes. Coffee Stout, sure. American Double Stout with chocolate overtones and impeccable balance, no way.

I will be trying FCB's other beers in the future, but I will certainly hesitate to purchase next I see a Fort Collins brew. 

Musical Pairings:

What more is their to say.

Artist:

Queen

Song:

Liar

Album:

Queen

Artist:
Bikini Kill
Song:
Liar
Album:
CD Version Of The First Two Records