Cuvée De Ranke

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

Richly saturated orange hue, small head, very little carbonation. Dry, earthy, mushroomy aroma. Also has lots of overripe plums and other orchard fruits, and a hint of inoffensive phenols. Nice palate. Smooth, low carbonation but a good level of effervescence. Great dryness, but just enough sweetness to impart a lingering fruitiness. Nice, natural leafy quality like eating fresh greenery, I love that. Reveals layers and layers of flavors as I drink the glass: apples, plum skins, peach stones. Also has resinous notes. Sophisticated, lingering mellow flavors. Very nice.

Opaque light amber with a fizzy-looking head. Tart, earthy, appley aroma with some floral accents. Very tart lambic taste, but with a kiss of malt sweetness, lots of minerals and perhaps some hop bitterness at the back. This ends up clashing with the sourness on the palate. This hybrid has some appeal because of the overt lambic character, but the ale detracts. The combination really doesn’t work much at all. Most of the pleasure derives from the lambic, so really just give me the Girardin straight up and cut out the middle man.

Bottle. Pours a slightly hazy orange color with a small off-white head. Has a fruity spicy tart and sour aroma. Fruity tasrt spicy and yeasty flavor hints of citrus. Has afruity malty tasrt yeasty finish.

been excited to try this since trying xx bitter years ago .. . fruity acidity and damn refreshing ...cut glass clean .. . very tart, very smooth, maybe to much so .. . thanks travis...

from crackedkettle.com - pours a cloudy dark orange colour under a little and persistent slightly beige foam; solid aroma of vinegar, horse blanket and fruits (peach and apple); good malt body, quite rounded and with a robust sourness, quite dry with a long lasting sourness and lot of fruity tones - marvelous !

My Bottom Line:
Within this highly compelling Sour Ale live dusty grapefruit creatures, roaming through green apple orchards covered in horseblankets and sweat. Needless to say, spontaneous happiness is inevitable.

Further Personal Perceptions:
-A veil of foam tops the muddy yellow amber.
-The funkiness is extremely complex, yet never overbearing like some lambics can be.
-The tartness is well levelled, making this lovingly drinkable.
-Carbonation is effervescent and pillowy.

Bottles.

Pours a cloudy, dark, glowing orange-amber color. A foamy, off-white head starts out large, receding slowly to a thin blanket with a ramped up edge. Few, large splotches of lace mark the glass. The nose is enticing and complex, showing a funky, old, soured oak overtone atop candied pale malts and tart apricot, nectarine, and orange rind. Vanilla permeates through and through, with wildflower spice notes and a acetic, vinegary, barnyard funk. Flavors are very similar, showing sour and acetic, with sharp citrus and white tree fruits zapping the tongue in a delicious sort of way. The wooden, oaky vanilla softens things up a bit, yet still gives plenty of barnyard funk notes. Worn leather and must linger within. Relatively big bodied for a sour, the mouthfeel is semi-dry and tingly, finishing sharp. Excellent stuff. I could drink this every day.

ZBF 2009. Light blond hazy beer. Slightly sourish aroma and taste and therefore very refreshing. A beer for on a sunny terras.