6.8

Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 7

Bottled. Amber colour, mediumsized white head. Aroma is citrus, some yeast, mild spruce as well as some sweet malts and mild alcohol. Flavour is nice floral and grassy bitterness with mild fruits, some sweet malts, spices and a bit earthy notes.

8.4

Appearance - 10 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8.5

Flaska från Etre Gourmete. Gyllenfärgad klar vätska med högt vitt stabilt skum. Doft och smak av säd, ljust bröd, crackers, blommiga toner från jästen, lätta fruktighet med guava, lichie, citron, värmande alkohol, torr eftersmak med mycket låg beska. Mycket av humlen är borta men det finns en harmoni och potens ismakbilden som gör den lika bra om än helt annorlunda än som färsk. Riktigt gott.

6.5

Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 6 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 4 | Overall - 7

Bottle. Golden color. Citrus in the perfumed, almost soapy aroma. Citric hopbitter, perfumed soapy flavor. Too much soap and perfume, too little tropical fruit. Nevertheless quite drinkable.

6

Backlog

7.2

Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 7

(Bottle) Golden amber colour, slightly hazy, with frothy white head. Malty, hoppy nose with notes of bread, grass, herbs, tropical fruit, some citrus and lots of fresh floral hops. Malty, hoppy taste with bread, crackers, grass, some tropical fruit, herbs, a touch of grapefruit, floral hops and a dry finish with a generous herbal bitterness. Medium body, quite dry. Tasty and well balanced with lots of fresh hops (even after 5 years of age). Nice one.

7.1

Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 7.5

Vintage bottle of an extinct beer, derived from Père Noël, bought at Fontana Drinks Center in Sint-Niklaas. I should know better than to buy a four year old bottle emphasizing its hop character, but I hadn’t tasted this edition before, so why not give it a try and see what happened in the past time... Thick and frothy, very thickly cobweb-lacing, egg-white, dense head over an almost clear, deep ’old gold’ coloured beer, becoming more and more clouded as the 75 cl bottle is progressively emptied. Aroma, rustic as it may be, shows no overpowering signs of oxidation at all and still breathes ’noble’ hops in spite of this bottle having been cellared for four years; I get impressions of freshly cut grass, soap, lots of red apple fraîcheur, straw, wet cardboard, dried flowers, some faint rusty iron still, old and dried white bread, dried apricot, jute, white pepper, a lot of dry hay, old cookies, gin, dried thyme, bitter honey. Fruity, still vivid onset of gooseberry, green apple and unripe plum, medium carbo tingling on the tongue with a minerally effect, slick and supple body. Pale malt sweetishness (a bit grainy) ensues with a slight caramelly accent, becoming more bready in the middle and leading to a drying finish where the graininess is reinforced by an earthy, deep, leafy hop bitterness and retronasal floral and grassy aromas. Alcohol remains almost completely hidden. I am truly surprised by how well this has stood the test of time: I take the risk to buy older bottles of beer regularly, but in the case of a 6% ABV Belgian blonde I normally have low expectations. In this particular case, those low expectations are unfounded: this still tastes fresh, quenching and appetizing - guess you have to be lucky in these kind of tradings. In fact, since it has no signs of the dreaded lightstruck effect, I like this version even more than a few of the later ones - who said a hop-forward beer cannot be cellared? It all depends on circumstances and sometimes sheer luck I suppose, but I sure enjoyed this one in spite of its age; I think an experience like this only accentuates the preserving properties of hops, the one thing they were meant to do ages ago. De Ranke remains a haven of good taste in an ever-changing beer landscape.

7.1

Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 7.5

750ml bottle. Clear golden colour with huge, frothy, fairly lasting, moderately lacing, white head. Floral and grassy hoppy aroma, minimally dusty, hints of pollen, unspecific fruity background in green apple and unripe pear direction. Taste is minimally sweet pale malty, minimally biscuity, floral hoppy overtones with accumulating mildly grassy hop bitterness, fruity background with hints of green apple and pear; super soft palate, gentle though effective carbonation. Another very nice De Ranke Ale with subtle strengths.

7.6

Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8.5

Capped 750 from Berkeley Bowl West. Pours hazy gold with a frothy off-white head. Aroma of fruity and earthy hops. Med body or better. Lots of hop; pretty dry; fairly bitter. Tastes really good; hops seem to have avoided damage.

9.2

Appearance - 10 | Aroma - 9 | Flavor - 9 | Texture - 10 | Overall - 9

2012 Edition. Swietne chmielne i zywiczne w zapachu. Niesamowicie pacznace morela. W smaku wytrawne hwiaty bzu jakby. Kolor pomaranczowo jasny, silnie metny z kremowa i trwala nieustepujaca piana. Piwo krzepkie tresciwe choc ma malo alkoholu doskonale syci. W sam raz do posilku. Niezapomniane w smaku chmiele belgijskie oczywiscie. Super smacznie bylo, polecam kazdemu

6.6

Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 6 | Flavor - 6 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 6.5

Bottle. Golden-orange colour with an off-white head. Aroma is hop, yeast, orange , fruit. Flavour is hop, yeast, malt, pine, fruit, orange, sugar. Bitter finish. Medium body. OK/Nice beer.