Global Beer Network

The Columbus Summer Beerfest is coming up in just a few weeks, and I wanted to look the part.  What I wanted most was a T-shirt or Polo shirt for one of my favorite beers.  A few web searches turned up the Global Beer Network web site.  I placed an order with them earlier this week, and it arrived today.  I couldn't be more pleased!

The first item I ordered was a polo shirt with an embroidered Gulden Draak Ale logo ($25) on it.  The shirt appears to be made of good quality material and the logo looks much better than the photos below make it seem.

Here's a close-up of the embroidered logo:

Knowing that August tends to be sunny in Columbus, and that my medical professionals would prefer I wore a hat, what better hat could I wear than this Gulden Draak ball cap ($10)?

I know some of you are saying "Dude, a black shirt and black hat outdoors in August is not exactly going to be comfortable."  And you're right.  But I thought ahead.  I also bought a white Piraat T-shirt ($15) to wear in case the day of the festival is just too hot and sunny for a black polo.



The back of that shirt has the ship logo from the beer bottle label.

Now THAT's a shirt you can wear outdoors in August…

Just for fun, I also added to my order a collection of beer labels ($5).  These arrived in an unassuming little manila envelope.  When I emptied it out, I was greeted with this huge collection of beer labels (none of which have ever graced a beer bottle, I'm told):

If you look closely, you'll see:  Petrus Dubbel Bruin Ale, Kapittel Abt Ale, Scotch Silly, Bornem Abbey Triple, Bavik, Tikka Gold, Troubadour Obscura, Cherish and Cherish Raspberry, Sloeber Ale, Monk's Café, Gulden Draak and Gulden Draak 2008 Vintage Ale, Piraat, and quite a few others.  I have no idea yet what I will be doing with all these, but I suspect they might be digitized and become ornamentation on this site at some point.

Something I found in the box but didn't expect was a HUGE folder of literature about different Belgian beers.  This stack of high-quality color flyers is about a quarter of an inch thick.

In it, I found flyers for Gulden Draak, Piraat, and Troubadour:

Along with Wittkerke and Petrus:

And many others.  The complete list of flyers includes:

• Brouwerij Van Steenberge, featuring Gulden Draak, Monk's Café, Augustijm, Bornem, and Bruegel


• Troubadour


• Brasserie de Silly, makers of Scotch de Silly


• La Divine


• Ename Tripel Abbey Ale


• Roman


• Ename and Sloeber


• Brasserie de Silenrieux, makers of Joseph Spelt Ale


• Sata Buckwheat Ale


• Brouwerij Van Eecke


• Kapittel Watou


• Bavik Pilsner


• Brewery de Halve Maan (Half Moon)


• Wittkerke Framboise (and regular)


• Petrus Gift Boxes


• Biere de Boucanier


• Tikka Gold


• Cherish Kriek, Cherish Raspberry, and Leute Bokbier,

I suspect it will take me quite a while to flip through and read all this… which was free with the order.

If you're looking for some good Belgian beer merchandise, check out Global Beer Network!