What better way to wind down a great weekend than with a high caliber Belgian beer!
This evenings selection is Kriek de Ranke, from the Ranke Brewery.
After popping the top on this 750, I was concerned to note some fluid on the cork. Not a good sign. The cork split on me as well. However, I was still able to remove it with no debris falling down into the beer. Once the cork has been removed, the smell of sweet spontaneously fermented goodness fills the house. The beer is okay!
The kriek pours a murky orange red pink into an over-sized wine glass. Nice frothy white head forms immediately and remains a full cap till the bottom of the glass. This is quite a pretty beer.
The nose on this one is enormous. From the moment the bottle was opened, the smell took over the house. Chris asked as soon as I walked into the room if it was a lambic. Nice. Lots of funk, with horse blanket, wet dog, musty barnyard and the like. There are also notes of peach, cherry, pear, and a bit of apple.
The taste is all I could hope for and more. The sweet malts come in at the front, and then the fruit hits. All of the fruits from the nose are present in great quantity, leaving a lovely fruit salad expression on the tongue. Then the funk hits. Not quite a puckering sourness pulls into the forefront, and dries the pallet. The layers of complexity in this verge on mind-boggling. It would take many bottles of this over many years to pick up all of the subtle notes involved. I look forward to this process greatly.
An easy drinker for something of such complexity, this bottle made a relatively hasty disappearance, and still left me wanting more.
Overall: 9.5/10 Another amazing beer from the Missouri hall. This is something that is so unique I wish I could have everyone try it. "I don't like beer" my ass...
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3 comments:
I think I've finally found some Three Floyds stuff in the Bloomington area and should have some of their goodness coming your way over winter break.
Glad to see you started this!
Yeast...one of my favorite things. Actually what made me like beer. My parents told me an amusing anecdote recently. Remember someone asking for your autograph at Pachamama's?
Yea. Carol, family friend. She was out to dinner with my parents, who were mildly offended that you didnt notice them, so they sent her over to pester you.
I spose it probably worked.
Nice to see some beer blogging happening!
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