De Ranke XX Bitter

Brewed by Brouwerij De Ranke
Style: Belgian Ale
Dottignies/Dottenijs, Belgium

A bright dandelion yellow pour with a mild hazy tint. Undisturbed nature. Subtleties dance like elusive fairies in the forest air, giving the impression that we are here on a promising treasure trail. Aroma of butterscotch dipped cashews and pears. Quiet, quick flashes of leafy floral hops. Shampoo. Sweet and fragrant. Citrus peels, cedar, and apricots highlight a sharp and distinct flavor with a cavelike harbor disposition. A general aura of basement air and damp earth. A bit of grass. Arrives at the end of this rainbow with a juicy lick of tender hops and a sweet coat of honey. Discovery. Light and fairly acidic palate in a yeasty dust cloud. Refreshing and unique – one of those rare gems that could be revisited again and again to no end of interest.

Pours a pale yellow with a slight orange color as well. A little hazy but it almost had the appearance of a pale lager. Aroma consisted of hops with slight malt and vanilla characteristics. Flavor is very hoppy right up front, and some slight citrus and pine notes are also included. This is a very drinkable beer, and unlike some other very bitter beers the bitterness doesn’t take away from the overall quality. Great beer.

750ml Bottle with white wrapper with correct bottle information, label was for a 11.2 oz bottle, best by 10-20-07 and 6% alc.: faint white wine and apple cider fragrances on cork, white foam creeped up the bottle neck till I poured the medium honey gold and yellow with orange edges and a glow, some haze with many specks floating around, lots of bread and pilsner malt aromas, some flowery hops, sweet and grassy fragrances, effervescent in the glass, pilsner and pale malt flavors, some fruit flavor, small to medium hop bitterness with citrus, this beer was aged towards the end of its ‘Best By Date’, maybe the hops had fallen out? This beer wasn’t as hoppy as I expected, I want to try a fresh bottle to compare, there is a bitter sour taste in the finish, some bittery spices and faint pine needles hiding in there, finish is pretty dry on the tongue, malt flavor stands out when cold but the hops appear up front after the beer has warmed up, aroma was more interesting then the flavor, lots of carbonation on the palate, not as hoppy as expected.

Bottle. Pours hazy yellow orange, white head. Aroma is funky, musty bleu cheese, rice. Flavor is hoppy, citrus, slightest of bitter bleu cheese, wheat.

This beer poured a rich cloudy fall orange with massive white head. Wheat nose whose faint bitterness was neither as strong or as hoppy as I’d hoped. Heavy malt body with bitter hop on the mid palate and finish with some sweetness slipping in on the finish. Far from the hoppiest beer in Belgium but not a bad beer.

Has the smell and appearance of typical many Belgian blondes. However, at first sip the hoppy bitternes hits full on. I really like hoppy beer of this extreme but I guess this is not for all. Well brewed and an excellent thirst quencher.

Golden color with a nice large white head. Good carbonation. Aroma is dominated by the bitterness of the hopps. Very hard to distinguish anything else. The bitterness I find of course back in the taste but not as overwelming as I would expect from the aroma.

Yellow and poured with a big head. Very bitter with no other flavours making any noticeable impact. Full mouth-feel which lingers for some time. A distinctive beer but to bitter for my taste.