De Ranke Père Noël

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 8 | Mouthfeel: 8 | Flavor: 9 | Overall: 8

A muddy amber colored beer with a big fluffy textured, white head rising above. There's good hang time on the head. It settles eventually a light film dusting and moderate fluffy ringlet. I get musty yeast and citrus nose. Some pepper, citrus fruit and citric hops all well balanced in a highly carbonated effervescent beer.

Aroma: 7 | Appearance: 7 | Mouthfeel: 7 | Flavor: 7 | Overall: 7

Beer no. 1 of my 12 Beers of Christmas 2012. Light orange amber pour, slightly cloudy, tall white head and cap, nice lacing, well carbonated. Earthy and lightly spiced aromas of light ripe fruits, some peppers, a bit of citrus zest, floral hops, caramel malts. Taste is slightly spicy and zesty, decent malt sweetness, nice floral and spice bitter and linger. Ho Ho Ho, Thank you Father Christmas.

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 6 | Mouthfeel: 6 | Flavor: 6 | Overall: 7

Massive foamy beer, head kept exploding out the top of the bottle. Hazy golden brown with a thick pillowy white cap. Aroma is milder the expected and populated with Belgian yeast, some orange zest, leathery wood like stuff, also hit notes of banana and clove. Taste is similar to the aroma but stronger. Leathery yeast,citrusy aftertaste, large banana component, nutty finish. Not the Christmas brew I was hopping for, kind of boring but highly drinkable.

Aroma: 7 | Appearance: 8 | Mouthfeel: 7 | Flavor: 8 | Overall: 8

Bottles, shared at Holmen Nanobryggeri’s annual Christmas/Yule beer tasting. ABV 7.0%. Cloudy deep golden to orange colour, moderate white head. Spicy attractive aroma. Spicy flavour with decent hops throughout. An enjoyable brew!

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 8 | Mouthfeel: 9 | Flavor: 9 | Overall: 9

Pours a pretty clear golden with a fairly thick off-white head. Aroma is fruity and slightly malty and just a little bit sweet. Flavor is sharp, fruity, somewhat hoppy but not too bitter and slightly sweet. Texture is lively and tingly so it seems to dance on the tongue and down the pipes.

Aroma: 7 | Appearance: 7 | Mouthfeel: 7 | Flavor: 4 | Overall: 5

This beer was a gift from some long time friends who are also into the beer hobby. The pour is a cloudy orangy gold with a yeasty aroma backed up with peppery hints. The flavour was very bitter to the point of being a turnoff.

Aroma: 4 | Appearance: 6 | Mouthfeel: 5 | Flavor: 5 | Overall: 5

bottled 8/07, sampled 2/09. unfortunately my first impression even before i poured was a brown sludge around the inner rim of the bottle that looked like a rusted shower drain. poured an amber orange with a thin white head and some sediment on the bottom. aroma was a unique but uninspiring mix of yeasty spice, fruit and hops. mouthfeel was of course highly carbonated and a bit thin and dry. flavor was ok. ultimately i can appreciate the uniqueness of the beer, but didn't particularly like the end result. low drinkability.

Aroma: 7 | Appearance: 7 | Mouthfeel: 6 | Flavor: 6 | Overall: 7

I am going to give this one an above average rating. However, being that it is billed as a Christmas beverage, I am deducting many points, because it tasted more like a Piraat or a Duvel than it did a Belgian Christmas ale. The white head hangs in from the get go (especially when you swirl around the snifter a few times) leaving a good lacing around the glass perimeter. Pere Noel's body was a murky orange, containing aromas of yeast, spice, floral notes, sour dough bread and citrus. Tasting Pere Noel gave us some serious hoppiness. As far as I am concerned, the only thing remotely Christmas about this elixir is it's name. Joyeux Noel, and serve up some St. Nick's Bock!

Aroma: 9 | Appearance: 7 | Mouthfeel: 6 | Flavor: 8 | Overall: 8

Bottle: Poured a cloudy dirty hazy beige color ale with a huge foamy head with good retention and some good lacing. Aroma of Saaz dry hops with some light dry funky notes. Taste is dominated by dry Saaz notes with a light funky notes, some floral notes and a quite dry ending and all this being supported by a nice Belgian malt backbone. Full body with limited filtration and great carbonation and no apparent alcohol. Interesting experience but maybe a tad too dry to be enjoyed on a repetitive basis.

Aroma: 6 | Appearance: 8 | Mouthfeel: 6 | Flavor: 7 | Overall: 7

This Belgian Ale pours a cloudy deep brown color from a 33cl bottle. Medium sized white foamy head. Aroma is fruity and sweet, with some hops and some spices. A medium bodied Belgian ale. The malts are fruity and sweet. The hops are herbal and floral. A nice mixture of fruit, spice and hops combine to make an interesting beer. Nice hoppy dry finish. Mouthfeel is full. Finish is crisp and dry. Aftertaste is slightly bitter and spicy.