De Ranke XX Bitter

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

750ml bottle, and the best before date is not notched out. Oh well. Pours a slightly hazy pale, straw-like color with a good two fingers worth of foam that fades slowly to a solid cap. The lacing is broken and in quite large chunks. Smell; very earthy hops in this one, with some vague hints of citrus. There’s a touch of pepper in here as well. Taste; as with the nose, the hops have a very earthy feel to them, but the citrus is a little bit more pronounced, and comes off lemony. A bit of caramel malts are present to go along with the peppery spices. Initially the hops and crbonation came off as a bit harsh But as this gets warmer, the hops become more floral, and the carbonation smooths out a lot. Mouthfee/Drinkabiity; as I said above, at first this was a bit harsh with the carbonation, but that settled down to become pretty smooth, with medium body. The drinkability ends up pretty very good on this one.

Poured into a large beer goblet, it is a cloudy straw color. Gallons of white foam spurt everywhere. Now I am patiently waiting for the foam to die back. This might take a while... Aaaargh - now foam is oozing out of the top of the bottle. I pour more beer into the glass, resulting in more foam in the glass, and a longer wait. Hang on, the bottle’s spurting again... (Long pause) Finally! On to the beer! The aroma is hoppy, and also a bit pungeant - almost but not quite like a sour lambic. The flavor - a Belgian with hops. Lots of hops. A surprising amount of hops (for a Belgian). A prominent noble hop spice up front almost hides a light malt presence. A sharp, tart, and spicy flavor in the finish lasts a good long time. A little light in the body, perhaps.

Bottle. Pours a cloudy yellow body with a two finger foamey head. Great look. Aroma is very peppery and reminds me of Fantôme BBB Dark White. Flavor is full of yeast and spice. Pretty smooth. Hoppy Belgian. Decently carbonated.

Bottle. Pours sparkling gold with a small white frothy head, mostly diminishing, fair lacing. Aroma is average malt (hay, meal, husky grain), average hops (grass, celery), average yeast (sweat, earth) with notes of banana, sour fruit and cooked vegetables. Long duration, light sweetness, moderate acidity and bitterness; sour citrus fruit, sweaty and earthy yeast, husky grain and straw malt flavors. Light bodied, oily texture, soft carbonation and a chalky finish.

Jaune «jus de pomme brut» pâle. Mousse abondante très légère. Beaucoup de fines bulles remontent à la surface. Bière trouble. L’amertume est très peu perceptible au nez, mais en bouche, elle est assez présente, surtout en finale. L’attaque est plus douce. On goûte plus le style «bière belge». L’effervescence est vive, ce qui surprend un peu pour une bitter. (Achetée au Half Time).

Bottle sampled with Beerded_one. Pours golden with a white head. Aroma of hops, belgian yeast, spices, and fruit. The flavor is bitter, spices, fruit, carbonation, and finishes dry. Good body, good brew.

In short: A succulent crisp and extra hoppy bitter Belgian ale. Very tasty and never aggressive
How: Bottle 330ml (many many many of them). Always as fresh as possible
The look: Cloudy yellow-blonde body topped by a medium white head
In long: Great start. Aroma of holding a flowers bouquet in one hand and a pineapple in the other hand while standing in a dry non-coniferous forest. The body is very yeasty and even a bit wild. Some salty notes and although very much belgian this beer feels as crisp as a pilsner. The fruity character is interesting and I would describe it as citrus fruits peels, pineapples, lemony meringue and even some dried bananas. The hops are dry and floral with an assertive flower petals flavour. The finish is dry and salty with a short bitterness of medium-strong intensity. Fantastic brew. The label proudly states “The hoppiest beer of Belgium” but now with the American taking over the over-the-top hoppy beer this means as much as saying “the healthiest junk-food”.

bottle. hazy golden, orange pour iwth nice head. Moderate aroma of spice, hops, mild citrus and yeast. nice balance of hops and fruit. big dry bitterness throughout. fairly straight forward. enjoyable. spice rounds the mouth. yeast and bread notes as well.