De Ranke XX Bitter

Bottle. Best of the 4 way taste test with orval, affligem blond and zinnebir. Dark chocolate aroma’s some strawberries. Taste is bitter chocolate a beautiful marriage between hops and the traditional belgian ale taste. Well balanced carbonation leaves a real good impression.

Pours as yellow and headless as any shitty pale lager. Sweet light aroma. INteresting flavour, doesn’t start until mid palate. A bit sour mid palate, becoming citrus and finishing with a strong bitter hoppy flavour that lingers for a very long time. interesting, but not very impressive.

0,33 l bottle, bought in Cracked Kettle, Amsterdam.
Nice hazy pale golden body with a lacing, foamy white head.Very floral-fruity hop in the aroma with some honey and spicy citrus, clove-coriander. Medium body that opens with caramel malt firstly but after comes the strong bitterness by floral hop, some fruity pine and citruses. Dry aftertaste. Yes, the beer has a big bitterness.

Bottled 330ml. -at De Spuyt, Amsterdam. Slight hazy orange/golden coloured, small white head, flowery nose. Moderate malty, fruity and hoppy with rather boring flowery notes. Dry bitter finish, expected much more.

Bottle. Pours hazy golden orange with a fluffy white head that lasts. Nose is fairly hoppy and has notes of citrus, honey, yeast and caramel. Flavour also has a strong hop presence which leaves a nice, long bitter finish with a little bit of sweetness as well. This may actually be the hoppiest beer in Belgium but it isn’t anything like some of the super-hoppy beers from the USA. Still a very nice beer and quite sessionable.

I’ve always wanted to try this and thankfully the beer has finally hit Australian shores. Whilst this is certainly hoppy in the Belgian context it’s not a patch on some aggressive US and Scandi beers. But, you know what? I’d rather drink this one any day. Hops are medium weight through the palate but kick up on the finish with a resiny herbal note. Very balanced thoughout and a nice sweet hop character mid palate.

Hazy amber pour with a one finger white head. Aroma contains lots of spice and citrusy hops with a slight toasty doughy malt and faint brett character. Some angelfood cake comes through as well. Flavor is biscuit malt with toasty dough and a surprisingly high resin character- barnyard funk is quite mild. Palate is effervescent, full, and quite smooth with some prickling carbonation and a dryish hoppy finish.

On tap at Akkurat. Cloudy, orange-colored character. The head was fairly large and fluffy. Bitterness was evident, although not super-powerful. Some soap, a lot of citrus, some sweetness in the flavor. The body was medium, the beer was very refreshing and pleasant to drink.