De Ranke Noir De Dottignies

Bottle. Pours dark brown with a large, rocky light brown head, mostly lasting with good lacing. Aroma is heavy malt (bread, cookie, chocolate, nutty), light hop (herbs), average yeast (leather, earth) with notes of raisin, plum, date, apple, wood, allspice, and dust. Full bodied, sticky texture, lively carbonation, and a chalky finish. Long duration, light sweetness, acidity, and bitterness.

750 ml bottle at Churchkey. Very muddy brown with a medium head that settles quickly, leaving slight lacing. Hops are evident in the aroma, along with a hint of spice, maybe coriander. Malts dominate the taste, although it is pretty well balanced, and the spice is again evident. Finish has a slight sourness. Nice one.

On Tap at the Albion, Warrington 30/05/2009 Very strong fruit aroma. Mid brown dark coloured and very strong in alcohol with a little dryness in a crisp and very bitter warming malt finish.

Sampled on 10/2/2009. This Belgian Strong Ale pours a dark brown color from a 750ml bottle. Large sized white foamy head, with nice lacing and long lasting retention. The aroma is fruity, raisins, estery and hoppy. A medium bodied Belgian Strong Ale. The malts are fruity and sweet, lots or raisins. The hops are earthy and floral. Lots of hops in this beer, in the front, the middle and the end. They just sort of hang around and gather on the street corner and then mug you for your spare change. Lots of hop flavors without a lot of hop bitterness. Nice carbonation. This beer is a semi sweet BSA, with all that entails, but the hops just stand out. Mouthfeel is full and round. The finish is clean and smooth. Aftertaste is slightly bitter.

Draft- 7 oz snifter. Chef Paul’s. Dark ruby red, creamy wispy head, faint aroma of dried cherries. Initial taste is dried cherry fruit and is slightly sweet. Quickly gets smoky and bitter and lingers quite a while. Great lacing. Cocoa powder and dark chocolate at the finish. Unique and complex.

33cl bottle. Creamy, medium tan head atop clear, dark brown body. Aroma is moderately sweet, spice/herb, light anise/cinnamon, alcohol. Taste is moderately sweet, roast, caramel, some cinnamon, other spices, faint burnt. Somewhat dusky dry finish. Medium body, a bit lighter than expected given the ABV.

Bottle@poatersgat. Brown/Chestnut colour. Smell: hoppy like more ’de ranke’ beers. Taste: also very nice selected hops with their bitterness within, sweet, fruity, malty, grainy, alcohol, spicy. A very good balanced beer with a good palate.

Bottle, 33 cl. A very typical "De Ranke" beer, which shows, in contrast with the name not dark, but a sort of chestnut colour wih a beautiful white head on it. The smell is caramel, dark fruited and malty. The taste is also very good: a malty taste with a nice hoppy and soft bitter aftertaste on it. Also notes of dark fruits and caramel. However, I have to say the bitterness is stronger in the beginning and less present as the dark fruit taste becomes stronger. A beer I will certainly drink again!