De Ranke Guldenberg

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

Serve in Trappist glass, Tulip, Tumbler

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This was my first step into the bitterness. Easy drinkable, fresh in mouth but sweet too... Long aftertaste. Sweet presence of the malts. Golden yellow in the glass, strong protective head. Not too sparkly. Perfect for one crazy night.

UPDATED: AUG 13, 2007 Straordinaria esperienza al pub del Duca, dopo la favolosa Kriek dello stesso birrificio, questa la verso con lentezza e un gran sorriso sulle labbra aspettandomi qualcosa di veramente speciale. Colore piuttosto chiaro, schiuma vivace, ampia ma subito pronta a svanire; l’aroma è spettacolare e indescrivibile: quindici minuti solo ad annusarla, aroma luppolato ed erbaceo, arancia e pane appena lievitato, e qualche fiore che non riesco a identificare, secco e inebriante, sembra che abbracci d’un colpo il salso profumo di mare alle mie spalle. Corpo vivace e leggiadro, sapore indescrivibile; i 33cl più avvincenti della mia vita. Top.

UPDATED: SEP 11, 2008 I love this beer, it’s one of my favorite Belgians. The color is beautiful glowing amber. The nose is enchanting, fruity and almost honeylike. Flavours abundantly fruity, with impressions of sour apples, sweet pears and juicy peaches. There’s sourness and sweetness in there, and yet there’s also the spicy bitter touch of the hops. The alcohol is well masked, there’s no burn at all. With its pleasantly tickly bubbles, and perfect mouthfeel, this beer is just heavenly.

UPDATED: NOV 20, 2005 When you open up a bottle, already the hoppy flavours come to wards you. Nice clear golden color. Nice head to, and well presented in a nice goblet. The taste is very sparkling, hoppy, malty all well balanced. Long aftertaste of hoppy bitters. For me one of my favourite tripels. A treasure. As a draught beer it’s cloudy, but still well balanced, and exiting.

UPDATED: JUN 9, 2008 Nearly opaque peach. Fine layer of thick, fluffy white foam. Musty with buttered biscuit, brett, and dried apricot aromas. Anise, flowers, iron, and stinky Brewer’s Gold undertones. Fluffy, tightly spongy carbonation. Less tart than the aroma suggests, with a soured orange rind background and leafy hop flavors. More ensuing, albeit restrained, tartness, yields hints of dried apricot and iron. Sharp gritty dryness intensifies the peppery yeast. Prominent house character soon grabs foothold and couples with notes of musty cellar and richly bitter, funky Brewer’s Gold that squelch the delicate ester spice. Minimal malt flavor lends only a dab of honeyed biscuit sweetness. Also quite musty and astringent from the yeast with a spicy brett-like underlay. Fairly tingly on the tongue after the swallow, as mild hop bitterness remains. Rather delighful, thanks to the gorgeously stinky hop nose and pungent bitterness, not to mention their pleasant yeast character.

Im trying to rate this from memory as I first tried it last night. Pours a cloudy light colour with white head. A beautiful beer with a palate to savour. Wish I remember more as I dont know how many bottles I will be drinking at $10 a pop.

750ml bottle. A beer as elegant as it’s blue and white wrapped packaging. It pours a beautfiul firm white head atop a hazy, unfiltered flaxen gold. The aroma of hops is instantly discernable from the glass with fresh baked bread and white grapes following close behind. The beer is very well knit with the most refreshing bite of hops on the finish. One of my top picks from Belgium and the world.

UPDATED: MAR 19, 2012 Con il mio precendente giudizio non avevo ampliato il discorso su questa birra, definendola genericamente come "molto fragrante". E’ riduttivo. Questa birra è mostruosa. Aroma incredibile: agrumato, speziato. Il gusto è leggermente acidulo, liquoroso, anch’esso speziato, agrumato e assolutamente corposo, tipo tripel. Il finale poi vira incredibilmente verso un finale luppolato e amaricante che rendono il finale lungo è semplicemente meraviglioso... e anche rinfrescante rendendola un pò fuori dagli schemi. Scende molto bene e ha il carattere di una trappista. Una delle mie birre preferite. Geniale.

UPDATED: MAY 4, 2008 750ml bottle (Jan/08 bottling). Head is initially large, frothy, rocky, white, fully lasting. Body is hazy dark yellow, bottle conditioned. Aroma is lightly to moderately malty (toasted grain), lightly to moderately hoppy (flowers, herbs, lemon), lightly yeasty (dough, cobwebs), with notes of pepper, dried pineapple, Juicy Fruit gum, lemon zest, honey, alcohol. Flavor is moderately to heavily sweet, lightly to moderately acidic, lightly to moderately bitter. Finish is lightly to moderately sweet, lightly to moderately acidic, moderately to heavily bitter. Medium to full body, velvety texture, lively carbonation, lightly to moderately alcoholic. Ultra-fresh bottle (4-5 months since bottling), and what a terrific batch this is! Like a stronger version of XX Bitter, but with a more subdued (but virtually as complex) aroma. Very tripel-like...very dry finish despite a big malt start, assertive but well-behaved alcohol presence, and very clean. Incredible beer. Jaw-dropping. And of course, hilariously underrated, as virtually all the best beers in the world are (XX Bitter, Taras Boulba, etc.).

Pours a cloudy amber honey colour with a medium head. Musty peach and fantastic light spice aroma. Extremely smooth and thich mouthfeel. Delicious taste I can’t begin to describe. Definatly one of the best I’ve had