Cuvée De Ranke

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

Serve in Snifter, Tulip, Tumbler

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THIS is why I drink beer!!!!! 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.

una sour ale dove l’acidità la fa da padrona. Molto beverina pur la gradatura non bassissima. Una delle migliori di questo birrificio.

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.

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!

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 !

Old beer from De Ranke mixed with Girardin Lambic (possibly the finest one to my taste) - Is that a winning formula or what? Yes it is. Huge yellowy head tops the cloudy light orange hue. Remarkable lacing. Hugely attractive cheesy, mushroomy nose. Bright and mostly clean, the lambic character is subdued, yet present and enhancing of the already tremendous base beer. Excellent grip on the palate, tart white chardonnay with its nutty creaminess. Pineapple brettiness with very fresh light lemony and floral hops. Absolutely unique for a sour beers, it has this confident hop kick that never intereferes with the sourness. Complex, lively, multi-faceted farmhouse ale. Refreshing, supple flavours. What a kickass brewery. Every ingredient can be retraced to its origins in this one, yet it feels completely united. I would have expected this beer to be racking the 4+, it is amongst my top 5 favourite beers of my 2007 european trip.

ZBF08. Sour cellar aroma. Flavour is very good. Very nice acidity. Hint of cellar and mold. Nice and cleansing acidity.

Bottle: The aroma consists of moderate lemon tartness, oranges, and musty basement. It pours a hazy golden-orange with a moderate creamy white head that lasts a minute or so and leaves sporadic clumpy sheets of lacing. The flavor starts with some mild citrus notes and then quickly turns to a moderate lemony/lambic tartness in the finish with a hint of must and wood. The lambic qualities are really dominant. A virtually perfect combination of sourness and drinkability (I hate to use this word now that Bud has made it a slogan, but I don’t know how else to explain it). Medium bodied with mild carbonation and a soft mouthfeel. It really comes a across like a lambic with a more full and soft mouthfeel. Definitely the best mouthfeel I’ve had in a Sour Ale. Maybe this is a hit or miss when it comes to bottling. I’m really shocked at the scores in the low 3’s by people who like sour beers. I didn’t rate this the first time a few weeks ago because I instantly knew I’d be buying another bottle, but I’m equally blown away a second time by this beer.

Bottle huge thanks to ang shared with the stone brewers and other legends! Aroma is wow, lambic, like id guess this was girardain or 3 F lambic from the nose. Taste is awsome sourness lambic funk, theres small hints of this being a lambic blended with something but generally the girardain rules and the cad says high 5!

"Extremely pleased with the overall quality of this sour ale. From the first scent I knew I was about to be a really happy man. Pours a thick dark golden color with a collapsing, bubbly head and some spotty lacing. Tart and fruity aroma that opens up the senses. I gathered a fair amount of peach and apricot intertwined with a musty yeast scent. Filling and the sourness demands that you take quick sips to fully enjoy what’s offered. A mouth puckering beer that made me continually crave it’s delicateness. Sour and tart fruits along with a yeasty doughy malt flavor. A touch of spice and mustiness. One of the best sours I’ve had to date."