De Ranke Kriek

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

Serve in Snifter, Tulip, Tumbler

(3/2/08) Bottle sample at Zythos Bier Festival 2008 in Sint Niklaas. Cloudy deep red beer with a pinkish head. Fruity, cherry aroma with hints of berries. Sourish cherry flavor with brett and some sweetish notes. Medium body. A very nice Kriek.

Bottle Bryant Lake Bowl. Mild barnyard funk with a pleasant amount of dry and tart cherry skin. Wet hay, wet grass and rotting citrus zest. Pours cloudy dark pink with a frothy white head. Good acidity and tartness on the tongue. Wood and red grape skin tannin. Lively crisp and refreshing, though lacking the complexity of Cantillon Kriek.

Hazy red with medium head. Sour nose with cherry, wood and grapefruit notes. The flavor is sour with notes of cherries, wood and grapefruit. High carbonation.

Bottle from Dranken Geers, Gent, Belgium. Had this 20-03-08 Pours with a Barbie like head (pink and fluffy) atop a lucious almost blood red body, it looks great. Aroma gently sour but cherries very much there. Tasted superb, gentle fizz on the tongue, yes it’s funky but not overly so, cherries are nice dry and tangtastic, can’t be bothered to write anymore just want to sip and enjoy, its lovely.

750 ml. bottle, pours with minimal head, minimal lacing. Smells sour and acidic, lactic and acetic, light pie cherry aroma. Funk is present but restrained. Thin body, puckeringly sour, but not exactly aggressively so. Cherry taste is not very dominant, a bit of wood- I don’t know if this is barrel aged though.Almost no residual sweetness. Empty glass smells like a fine leather purse.A real palate cleanser, could cut through some stinky cheeses quite well. I like this Kriek, worth seeking out.

UPDATED: MAY 2, 2010 Light sourness married with subtle hints of cherry sweetness and just a little funk. Great balance and not face-implodingly sour.

Bottle (ZBF2008)
Fruity, but not just cherry. Sharp, refreshing, a touch of apple, and a hint of crotch. Finish is dry tangy cherries.

3-2-08 bottle shared at tasting thanks to the super duper Miketd!!!
Red grapefruit color with no real head. nice sweet balanced flavor of grapefruit and maybe honey. Smell is big bubble gum. Ruby red grapefruit through and through. One of the best Fruit beers I’ve had - not normally a style I like at all and this one was really enjoyable. Miketd rocks!