HOP Flower Power
Price:	Not sold by PolyBEER
Harvest 2009 Pours hazy orange with a large, fizzy cream colored head, medium-long retention with good lacing. Aroma is heavy malt (grainy, hay, straw, cereal), average hops (earthy, herbal, grassy), and light esters (fruity) with notes of pepper and horse blanket. Flavor is heavy malt (hay, straw, cereal), average hops (earthy, herbal, grassy, spicy), and light esters (fruity) with notes of pepper, ginger, dust, and horse blanket. Medium-light body, low warmth, high carbonation, low creaminess with a dry and biting finish.
Country:	Belgium
Brewery:	Brouwerij De Ranke
Alcohol:	6.00  %
Served:	7  °C
Type:	Hops, Artizanal

The beer pours with a lightly hazed, amber tinged, gold body that is topped by a dense, creamy, one-finger thick head that leaves a fair amount of lacing on the sides of my glass. The beer smells herbal and fruity in the nose with the hop character contributing notes of Meyer lemon, orange zest and a grassy / pine like note. There are some grain derived notes of crackers, freshly threshed wheat as well as freshly crushed pale malt notes that adds a subtle touch underneath the more dominant hop character.

The beer has a spritzy carbonation and is off dry, which makes for a quaffable brew. The texture makes this nice and quaffable, though it is not so light that it isn’t able to accentuate the hop focus; put another way the body is not so light that it accentuates a harsh hop character. There is a nice, big, herbal bitterness that cuts through each sip from beginning to end. Herbal orange oil flavors, light lychee notes and some grapefruit flavors make for a very aromatic and hoppy flavored brew.

This has a really nice mix of hop character that is backed by supporting malt. It is not actually nearly as hopped up as an over-the-top American IPA; while the hops are dominant, the malt is quite clean and present. There is a spiciness and character here that seems yeast derived, plays such a supporting role to the hops though that one hardly notices. Actually it is the musty, faintly medicinal and hint of spicy phenolics that defines the yeast character and makes this beer so nice. It is interesting, if true, that this is a mix of Saaz and fresh, dry hopped Hallertau hops.