Cuvée De Ranke

Brewed by Brouwerij De Ranke
Style: Sour Ale
Dottignies/Dottenijs, Belgium

stud tasting blah blah. Amber pour with a thin fluffy head. Aroma is funky foot and oranges. Flavor is foot cheese, vinegar, tobacco, orange, and other citrus. Finishes tart, mild acidity for the style.

750 ml. Very inviting aroma. An amalgam of wet fruit skins, some tart acidity. Dusty barn. Plenty of wild and funky yeast. A touch of gravel and a slight minerality a’ la Sauvignon Blanc. Zesty lemon notes emerge. Pours a thick and nearly still looking dark copper orange save for a thin film of white on top. Flavor shows the same tannic fruit skins as the nose suggests. Tempered acidity. Plenty sour, but far from aggressive. Yeast pour yields flavors of slightly moldy and dusty basement but seems to bring more malt flavor to the fore. Interesting. Rather full bodied for a beer like this. Perfect amount of carbonation. Finish is lengthy, slightly acidic but with loads and loads of gravel and minerals. What a treat and an awesome experiment!

Bottle shared with miketd. Pours copper with a thin white head. Smells grassy with some lemony hints. Tastes tarte and dry with a nice sugary finish. I’m looking forward to seeing this beer locally.

A thin, thick-bubbled and lightly milky rim on a resiny amber orange body. Speckled, tightly clung carbonation up the sides of the glass. Dusty, tangy, lightly sweet aroma of mandarin oranges and ginger and lemon juice; sweetness of almond cream and cherries, sinking into a musty, warm horseblanket and peppery yeast push. Sour grapes. Powdery sweetness. Apricots. A surprising, bitter tannic quality of plum skins lends a sophisticated touch that seems right on pitch, even if it’s very unexpected and uncommon in this type of blonde sour. Finally a bit of apple cider vinegar.

Flavor is full, juicy and acidic; mostly a calm fruitiness of apricots, plums, grapefruits, blood oranges, and pineapples; dusty balsamic sweetness, field greens, and a distant malty doughiness of vanilla and toffee lending some body. While the acidity is quite sharp, it doesn’t push the fruit flavors right to the front as it often does when they’re already present; rather, these fruit notes are very quiet and calm, more reminiscent of those found in a smooth white wine than those forced in a violent punch by the bitter citric acids of wild yeasts. This is really an interesting inversion. A blend of tart cherry and salty carrot juice in the middle; one of those indifferently weird moments.

Dank, basementy palate seems quite sparkly in front, but tempers and offers only the gentlest carbonation on a smooth acidic lemon juice texture. Finishes with some minerally bitterness and a sandy, cheesy funkiness. There’s a lot to love in this laid back sour from two of Belgium’s finest; the restraint, the delicate dance of acidity and rich flavor, and the stunning drinkability. An awesome blend.

Appearance: Pours a clear, dark amber body with a thin ring of white bubbles. Smell: Sour, funky aroma of retired malts, disgruntled lemons, uncorked and forgotten chardonnay, and wild, unstoppable yeast strains. Taste: Mild base maltiness underneath a layer of funk. There’s a flicker of sweetness, but otherwise it’s a sour ride. Splash of citric lemon juice and white wine vinegar. Deteriorating, mold-coated wooden boards. Big pop of acidity. Pinch of nutmeg. Splash of Hildon mineral water. Dry, sourish finish. Mouthfeel: Medium-thin body. Medium carbonation. Greasey texture. Drinkability: Fairly good all around.

Corked bottle. Light amber color, hazy. lemon, grapefruti, oak and leather in the bretty aroma. Sour flavor, oaky with lemon. Dusty with some flowery hops. Plums and leather. Lambic dominates the character of this beer. Leathery vinous aftertaste with a considerable dry out effect. Excellent!

Hazed golden brown color. Nose is enticing notes of lambic - horseblanket, coarse grains, peppery sour wild yeast, and apple cider vinegar. Flavor is malty and full and rich toffee malt with lacto yeast and a medium sharpness of lambic acidity. Light but fresh bite over the middle and into the back. Spicy, peppery, tart, and sour fruit and wheat. Wonderfully rich and delicious, as things tend to be from de Ranke and Girardin. A great blend.

The body was hazy bronze and amber. The aroma was fairly tart with some lemons and flowers. The taste was tart lemons and strawberries with some leather and metal. A weirdly sweet finish after the mostly tart taste.