The Gulden Fraug caught my eye at The Foodery in Philadelphia because I’m always game to try Belgian Styles by acclaimed US brewers. The “celebration” style isn’t always my favorite, but I was intrigued to see how Hoppin’ Frog (whose Double IPA “Mean Manalishi” I enjoyed quite a bit and reviewed for this site as well) would handle balancing the whole game — spiciness, sweetness, body, etc., to handle the high 10.5% ABV that this bottle boasted. I have to say that I was pretty disappointed overall. The same qualities of balance that made the Mean Manalishi so successful were all but absent in this brew.
Gulden Fraug pours a beautiful dark color but with almost no head. The initial smells were pretty promising but right away came off as cloying, which pretty much dominates my perceptions of the bottle overall. Syrupy, a bit thin, and really one-dimensional flavors with very little of the spicy profile that make other beers of this style exciting. No hop profile on the nose, which I understand is characteristic of this style, and almost no bitterness taste-wise either. If Hoppin’ Frog was trying to make an excellent but orthodox Belgian Strong Ale, they may have come close to success here, but the beer is far from remarkable. Hot, syrupy, and sweet, sweet, sweet with very little of the qualities I enjoy in a beer, there’s no way I could see myself going for two of these in a row, the immense ABV notwithstanding. Hoppin’ Frog still scores big with me for going for it, and for nailing one of my favorite beer styles (DIPA), and I definitely look forward to trying the two styles still in my fridge from this trip. Next up will be the BORIS Oatmeal Russian Imperial Stout, and I really look forward to it.
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