De Ranke- XX bitter

The self proclaimed hoppiest beer in Belgium would probably have little on some American IPA's. And I will freely admit that IPA's are not my favorite. I usually find them way too hoppy with little else to offer for my tastes. But part of this blog and my brewing experience is to push myself to try things that I might normally not try.
This beer was once apparently fermented with a mix of brewers and wild yeast, for a flavor that was both marked by Brettanomyces as well as being extremely hoppy. Now they are back to using a brewers yeast only (I think), though the hops remain.
This brewery was started by two friends who took their hobby and passion for craft beers to the next level. By all accounts, they are now quite successful as their beer is exported around the world. They only use whole hop flowers and no extracts or pellets in their beers. They believe this gives a better end product.
This beer pours a great golden orange color with streaming carbonation. Very hoppy aroma as expected. Citrus and pine. Looking at their website, they used a large amount of low alpha acid hops in this beer, as opposed to a smaller amount of high alpha acid hops as what I think is the norm in IPA's. Nice head and lacing in the glass as it is drunk.
Taste is hoppy, but not too much amazingly. Citrus, pine, light malt. Belgian character from the yeast. Very dry and refreshing.
I guess after this, my next step is to try some American IPA's. Maybe I won't dislike them as much as I thought. Maybe I will actually brew one myself.
My review: Some people like really hoppy beers and some don't. I don't, but I would still buy this beer again, though not all that frequently.
Abv: 6.2%.
Volume: 33cL.
Website: www.deranke.be
Price: 5 at Harvest Wine and Spirits.
Number of cans of Bud Light you could buy for the same price: 8.