De Ranke Père Noël

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

Serve in Trappist glass, Tulip, Tumbler

Bottle from Appellation Wines. Yeasty grassy bready resin aroma. Cloudy yellow amber brown colour, good head. Sharp spicy resin grain flavour. Bitter sweet aftertaste. Reasonable Belgian beer.

THOUGHTS: Not bad, but not very Christmasy. The bottle might not have been stored or transported in the best conditions. TECHNICAL: Bottle. Poured a light amber with a small, off-white head that mostly diminished and left barely fair lacing. It also had tiny particles of an average to thick density floating in the body. The aroma had light to moderate caramel and honey; light to moderate herbal, grassy, citric and earthy hops; light to moderate musty, spicy and dusty yeast; and slight cardboard. The initial flavor was lightly sweet; while the finish was moderately sweet, lightly bitter and slightly acidic. There was caramel malt, honey, citrus hops, herbal hops, slightly metallic hops, dusty and spicy yeast, and musty yeast. The medium body was slightly syrupy and then very dry with fizzy carbonation and a slightly metallic finish.

Aroma is fruit, bready malts and a hint of alcohol. The flavor is fruit, yeast and a bit of alcohol. Kind of surprised that the alcohol was so noticeable, otherwise this was a pretty good ale.

Cloudy orange, white head. Wheaty, with a slight citrus nose. Starts bitter for a fraction of a second, rolling into creamy hops. Light spiciness in the finish.

From 11.2 FL. OZ. bottle to glass. Aroma of booze and malts with a tinge of hoppiness. Appearence is a cloudy, dark orange with a nice white head to contrast the body. Taste of belgian spices, malts, and a touch of hops. Nice balance between flavors, with a medium body. Warms the belly, with a dry finish. An enjoyable beer that I will definitely have again.

Draft. Pours clear copper with creamy off-white head; good retention and some lacing. Aroma is bread malt, earthy and floral hops, and light spice. Flavor is bread malt and yeast, light caramel and spice with earthy hops through the finish. Medium body, carbonation, and warmth.

[330ml bottle, Appellation Wines, Edinburgh] Blonde pour with a thick, fluffy, white head. Big whack of coriander on the nose. No overall Christmassy element on the flavour – there’s not a huge departure from Belgian beer in general – but it’s a good beer. Nice warming alcohol finish [15122011]

750mL bottle, split 4 ways, pours a cloudy orange with a medium white head. Aroma of Belgian yeast, floral hops, zesty spiciness, and orange peel. Flavour of Belgian yeast, orange and lemon zest, and floral hops. Very nice array of flavours - medium-to-high carbonation. Very good.