Simplex
(has 1 batch)

On tap at Christian Firtal. Cloudy golden with a small white head. Spicy-fruity aroma that is distinctly De Ranke. Spicy sweetish flavour with fruity and herbal notes and a nice, medium bitter finish.

Blonde session ale apparently lagered at very low temperatures to reduce yeast effects and achieve a cleaner, ’pils’-like profile, which would technically make this a kind of Kölsch indeed. Nicely ’membranously’ lacing, egg-white, firm and well-retaining head crowning a lightly hazy ’old gold’-hued blonde beer with slightly olive greenish hue and fine strings of fizz here and there; shifts to a more equally misty, ochre-hued but still attractive looking blonde with sediment. Aroma of unripe pear, fresh white bread, green apple peel, moist white pepper, dried field flowers, damp straw and black radish especially with the sediment added, slight accents of banana, minerals, fresh camomile, dough, wet grass. Crisp, clean and spritzy onset, very refreshing, with subtle fruity notes (indeed ’flattened’ by the cold lagering) of hard pear, unripe peach and a dash of sourish green plums, low in sweetness, minerally by sharp, prickling carbonation but actually matching the intended style well. Light mouthfeel of course, but still more full-bodied than expected from a beer below 5% ABV; clean pale malt sweetishness in the middle, white bread and bread crust-like, with a sharper grainy edge to it. Some of the very subtle fruitiness travels on top of it but the real star here is the hoppy bitterness in the end, making for a very peppery, leafy, tonic water- and wormwood leaf-like, resiny ending with some retronasal floral notes; this noble bitterness dries the back of the mouth, lasts for a very long time and has a very quenching effect. Cannot be called ’Kölsch’ for legal reasons but I would not completely consider it to be one either: this is more a classic ’Belgian bitter blonde’ that has received a Kölsch-like treatment. The hop bitterness was never going to be subtle considering this is De Ranke we’re talking about, but lends this beer spiciness, character and a lot of quenching potential - I’m having this on a hot summer afternoon and could not have made a better choice. XX Bitter’s cleaner, lighter and slightly more subtle little sister, in certain ways, very clean, to the point and flawless - I love this brewery.

Bottle, 20 months before bbd. Pours slightly hazy, pale yellow, with a big creamy head receding to finger thickness. Aroma is ephemeral hops and yeast with soapy and citrusy notes, as well as pale malts with cereals, toffee and honey. Medium body, with soft carbonation. Flavour is dry yeast and bitter hops, with hay, pepper, herbal notes and citrusy notes, as well as pale malts, with cereals and toffee. This may not be a pils, but it sure as hell is not a kölsch either.

Hazy light yellow. Yeasty and zesty aroma, some lime. Dry, bitter taste, apple hints. Short mouthfeel.

Bottle from web SB cons 2017-06-26 Göteborg AR: sweet belgian yeasty, bread/loaf AP: hazy to cloudy cooper, frothy ofwhite fluff F: sweet Belgian yeasty, dry breadiness, fizzy, wee dull, to firm bitterness

Bottle at ’t Brugs beertje Brugge. Clear gold lasting white head. Citrus lemon herb aroma. Good mouthfeel. Good hoppy character. Not a kolsch. Good hoppy blond

Bottle:
Pours golden with a slight haze. Nice head. Aroma is floralhops, lime and coriander. Flavour is floral hops, Belgian yeast, coriander and citrus. Long bitterness.

Licht troebel lichtgeel bier met mooie schuimkraag. Smaak is bitter hoppig en licht friszuur met sporen van gras en citrus. Apart maar erg goed bier.
Update : blijkbaar is de stijl gewijzigd na mijn eerdere rating. Vond het eerder al vreemd dat dit als een Kölsch te boek stond.

Flaska från SB. Smak och doft av humle, belgisk jäst, gräs, grapefrukt och citrusskal. Torr, lagom sötma, något sträv, fin beska med smak av grapefrukt- och citrusskal.