De Ranke Père Noël

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

Bought at Cracked Kettle, Amsterdam. Amber cloudy beer with a nice foamy white head. The slowly opened aroma is spicy coriander and liqueric fruits, caramel, a little vanilla and floral hop. Flavor is spicy with coriander, a strong and good balanced hop, caramel and roasted malt, dried fruits like apricot and some raisins. Bittery, dry finish with coriander. Fine beer!

Pours cloudy orange with a tightly-knit head. Some funky citrusy aromas. Funk and horse hair with some real dryness in the flavor. Very spicey and fruity but not sweet. Tart, tasty and dry.

Kind of fruity and I like the hops that are present. Tastes a lot like the Delirium Noel but not as good

Père Noel, per Natale non potrei pensare a qualcosa di meglio da sbevacchiare in allegria sotto un albero di abete o sotto il presepe o nel presepe al posto dei pastori che sicuramente non bevevano la Père Noel perché non vi era (devo evitare gli apostrofi per carità). Alla spina al Pub del Duca. Sbav. Una delle poche birre di Natale che non stufano mai: bilanciatissima, è un vero piacere berla.

750 bottle corked, capped, and wrapped in a nice paper. certainly some care taken in bottling this one. bb. 09/2012 bottled 9/2007 wish all bottles had this info. poured an orange amber in color with a one finger thick head of light tan froth and slowly rising carbination. nice looking with some light sediment. aroma has nice malt, spices, yeast, some sharp hops, and citrus. mouth feel is medium light with some creamy thickness and more carbination than it lets on with. good balance, nice malted body with layers of spices and hops. yeast adding a whole other floral spice layer. i can see with a little age how this could be really nice.

Pours a cloudy golden orange with decent head that receeds at a quicker pace. If you pour the sediment in, it is a dark golden brown. Nose is slightly yeasty with the same level (or less) of citrus and overall that Belgian beer nose you come to expect. What an...odd...flavor. Lots of things going on here, but nothing that stands alone. Sweet like honey at first, and then a strike of spices comes over your tongue. Then there is an almost metallic tone that hits the roof of your mouth and takes over- but I think it is from spices, not any metallic influence on the bottle. If you pour the sediment in, it seems to be smoother with a more balanced profile. Feel is standard and heavy with carbonation, but not overdone. Very drinkable, though not highly so because it is such an enigma on the palate. Overall worth trying I would say. But not because of any particular thing. It is just a very mysterious beer. Here, there, but nowhere. I suggest trying to mix up the sediment in the beer as it seemed to provide a more even and smooth experience.

Pours cloudy amber with off white head. Floral hop aroma with Belgian yeast. Mildly sweet flavor with some breadiness and spiciness with a bitter finish. Medium body with lively carbonation. Different than the usual Christmas beers, but a great brew. Reminds me of Chouffe Houblon but not quite on the same level.

Pours a hazy yellow/orange color with a sticky, long lasting, beige head. The aroma is mostly sourdough with some earthy hops. Flavors are dirty, earthy hops, with pine needles, musty horseblanket, and some mild clove. A very interesting beer, a little on the watery side, though.