We were lucky enough to get our hands on a small amount of this limited collaboration brew between one of Belgium’s smaller breweries Brasserie des Legendes (itself a result of two smaller breweries merging) and one of the more well-known brewers in the form of Brouwerij De Ranke.
Brouwerij De Ranke is known for the fact all of their beers are on the hoppier, more bitter side of the style line, while Brasserie des Legendes focuses on using all locally grown malts. It seems like a good match of expertise.
It came as no surprise to learn that there are multiple malts as well as hops used in making this beer. The malt bill is made up of pale, biscuit, cara and munich malts. The hops are mainly noble hops that include Centennial, Fuggles, Northern Brewer, Cascade and Hallertua Mittelfruh.
The beer is something of a mix between a Belgian pale ale x Amber Ale x a little bit of Belgian farmhouse ale. It is an amber colour, and there is a certain sweetness to the malt body. Those hops make their presence felt with a firm late bitterness that lingers in the aftertaste.
It is a very ‘Belgian’, without fitting into an established style box. Either way, I really enjoyed this special one-off collaborative brew.