De Ranke Kriek

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

Big pink head; ruby-red hue. Bright nose; inhaling the releasing carbon dioxide almost burned my nose hairs off. Lively carbonation; champagne-like texture, though not as carbonated. Tart and acidic. Some vinegar. Bitter, salty finish. Faintly catty. Cherry notes were far in the background. Not bad, but I thought it needed some more spunk and funk, and I like it when the cherry is a bit more evident.

750 ml bottle, red with a thin pinkish head. Sharp cherry aroma, medium bodied, Sweet tart flavor that quickly becomes sour and acidic, ends very dry quick and almost watery.

Pours deep red with a bit of brown and a full pink head with not much retention. The aroma is very sour and tart with sharp cherries, spritziness, clean spice and sharp 7-Up. Medium thin body that is very crisp with some unobtrusive spritzy carbonation. The taste starts sour with some sharp lemony citrus, light hints of sour cherries and some metallicness that actually works with the style. The finish has a bit of sharp spice with heavy sourness. Nothing overly surprising with the beer, but it was very crisp and highly enjoyable.

Catford Beer Festival. Shared a bottle with Harrisoni. First sample poured carefully without sediment. Red coloured with a pink head. Sharp, fruity aroma with lots of woody notes, spice and pepper. To taste there is lots of pleasing dryness, tart cherry character, oak and mostly sour. Rather like a kriek lambic. With the sediment poured in the it was less attacking, the sourness smoothed out and the carbonation also. A really rather interesting beer.

Bottle. Reddish beer with a pinkish head. Huge dusty cobweb aroma with lots of tart cherry. Tart cherry flavor with oak, dust, and nice acetic backing. Medium bodied. Acetic tartness lingers with cherry, dust, and earth.

(750ml bottle, best by 9/06): Cherry red body with virtually no head. Aroma is sour cherry, some barnyard. At start, taste is sour cherry, minimal sweetness, light barnyard. As it warms, sweet cherry taste joins the other flavors. Light-medium body.

Bottle from The Offie, Leicester. Blood red and pink with a small pink head. Aromas are sour cherries and blood oranges with wood, hints of soft cheese and wood. Aromas are tart cherries and lemon with creamy cheese. Woody and dry towards the finish. Pleasingly agricultural.

750ml Bottle: Aroma of tart fruit, cherries, slight wood, and a hint of spiciness. Poured ruby/magenta/red in color with a small pink/white head that lasted around the edges. Cloudy. Not sparkling. Flavor is medium to heavily tart and light to medium sweet. Tastes of tart fruit, wood, oak, cherries, slight barnyard, acid, and a little raspberry. Light to medium body. Thin, tingly, puckering texture. Average to lively carbonation. Tart, sweet, cherry finish is slightly dry.