Cuvée De Ranke

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

Supremely enjoyable is you are OK with some sourness. Sourness, some lambic aroma, and transparent appearance, and some yeast and head. This was nicely malted. Average mouthfeel. Wonderful with lunch.

Bottle sampled on 6/3/08: Pours a slightly hazy orange bronze with a stringy-lacing white head. Aroma of fresh semi-sweet pale malts and light tart fruits and mild oak. Body starts fairly full with good carbonation, light malty sweetness and good cheesy leathery dry tart complexity toward the finish. A nice beer with great tart balance.

Clear gold, a nice column of carbonation leads to a fluffy white head in my ommegang glass. Nose is lemon pits, lavendar, slight oxidation (fades w. time), tingly grapefruit juice all bound together by hay-like malt. Flavor is much less acidic than the nose implies. There is certainly some nice lemony acidity but that is tempered by pils malt, grapefruit, general funk, grapes. Finish is lemon pit & white grapes, unripe yellow plums. Understated, smooth & wonderful. Heavier body than you’d expect for something like this but it works to contribute to an overall mellowness.

Poored a rich light amber with almost no head. Tart aroma of sour apple and slightly floral. Flavor was awesome. Very smooth sourness with a hint of oak. Wish I had more.

750ml capped but not corked bottle from De Bierloods, a right bugger to open. Burnished to milky gold with a foamy collapsing collar and miraculous specks of lace. Damp canvass sprinkled with sherbet aroma, Orval splashes on a mouldy hospital corridor floor, malt vinegar, hay, ink, crab apple and an occasional tang of something sweeter..strawberry? It’s Girardin alright, and a right dribble-maker no doubt, but where’s the De Ranke? Mouth brie rind dankness teaspooned with lemon juice, Dip-Dab with no lolly, mellow alcohol glow. Wow, unblended lambic that laces and sparkles, and doesn’t have you reaching for the Gaviscon after one tumbler, except it isn’t. Less than the sum of its considerable parts. Don’t really see the point.

750ml bottle from Sam’s in Downers Grove, Illinois: This pours a hazy light amber with a modest off-white head. It has a vinegary aroma complemented by tart pink grapefruit, crabapples, wet hay, light floral scents, and a touch of barnyard funk. The flavor is very acidic and funky with fruity touches and a suggestion of soured malt. Nice dry, sour finish. Very nice.

0.75 l bottle at Old Bricks Inn, Jyväskylä. Orange color. Acidic aroma with grapefruit, lemon, peach, strawberry and hint of wet horse. The taste is sour and fruity, very close what aroma promises. The palate is slightly woody and astringent. Tastes like a lambic, but has more body.

1.5 year old 750ml bottle. Pours a hazy dark orange colour with small white head. Aroma is pure gueuze funk, a sharp sour, green apples and freshly cut grass. Taste is sour, dry, musty, barnyard but also very fruity, lots of apple, lemon and raspberries. Complex bouquet, it’s a pure pleasure to sip it. Sourness is very elegant and balanced, a lot more well-behaved than the intensly sour Girardin that is used to create Cuvée De Ranke is. This is a great beer to ease someone into the sour world of Lambics. Medium carbonation. Highly drinkable since it’s not as mouth-puckering as a pure Gueuze. Simply delicious. A masterpiece!