Gulden Draak a Dark Tripel? C'mon!

Yes, I've had this thought as well. Even this site lists it as a BSDA. Love the Gulden Draak no matter what style it's called, but it's definitely odd to call it a "dark triple" when no other ale is classified as such and it totally fits with other BDSAs in its qualities. I would guess that it is a marketing technique to be unique.

 

Classifications are a funny thing. A brewer can classify his/her brew anything he/she wants. Look at the debate between Cascadian Dark Ale vs. Black IPA.

 

Why? Ever had vintage bottles of trappist tripels? Before Westmalle had a huge success with making their Tripel pale, a lot Tripels were kinda dark...

 

why, who says it can't be?

 

agreed but black ipa makes no sense either . a rose by any other name .

 

I think people get way to caught up on style classifications too. IPAs are the worst when it comes to this. The whole pale ale to session IPA to IPA to double IPA to even freaking triple IPA gets pretty stupid after a while. I still remember when someone from Oscar Blues told everyone Dale's is called a pale ale for no reason other than it sounds better than Dale's IPA. That should have been a signal to everyone just how little the categories really matter.

 

Thanks for bringing this beer to my attention, as I have been bypassing it for so long. Gonna pick up a single of it tonight

 

Devil's advocate comment, but is a dark tripel less of a thing than a quad or "Belgian strong dark ale?"

 

misappropriation of beer styles is a cornerstone of craft beer

 

I hear yah. Not trying to be argumentative, serious question: Are there really many examples of Belgian brewers labeling their own beers "quad" or "Belgian strong dark ale" or maybe just a handful? I'm not talking about American brewers or the way beers are classified here.

 

Not being able to find it anywhere is my frustration with it! Just be glad to have it no matter what they put on the label. For some reason it is not available anywhere within at least 100 miles from me.

 

Sorry you are annoyed. This thread kind of annoys me.

One of the most basic traits of the "craft beer movement" is innovation i.e. brewing traditional styles with a twist or inventing completely new styles altogether. You have good taste in beer... Gulden Draak is one my favorites as well... but if such innovation and freedom to define new styles annoys you as a beer drinker then perhaps you might reconsider whether or not the craft scene is for you.

 

So how was it. Love this beer. Hate the price.

 

Its not tonight yet

 

It could be worse. Budweiser has been calling its product 'Beer' for decades.

I think as long as what's written on the bottle predicts what the beer tastes like, we don't need to be picky about specifics. It's the marketing department that chooses the label anyway and all marketing departments are full of crap.

 

All you have to do is convince the brewer to call it that since they named the beer and identified its style.