McMalty

Recipes 

I'm relatively new to sours, they're great, but not so readily available, so I'd like to get a benchmark for what's good and what's not. What's your favorite commercial sour(s) and why?

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z987k

Recipes 

Duchess de Bourgogne
Monk's Cafe.
Bacchus Red Flemish Ale

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cervezarara

Recipes 

Personally, I love a classic gueuze. They tend to be very dry with a slight barnyard flavor and mouth puckering sourness. You may have to search, but there are a few available in the US. The most common is Lindemans Cuvée René, which is traditional, whereas the Lindemans fruit guezes tend to be sweetened alco-pops.

Cantillon is among the best. Drie Fonteinen is very good. Hanssens Oude Gueuze and Kriek are fantastic.

I have not found Boon gueuze in Ohio, but it may be the best. Boon Mariage Parfait is heaven in a bottle. Girardin 1882 black label is great if you can find it.

i have recently found Tilquin near me. It is a new blender showing a lot of promise.

If you can fing Cantillon Grand Cru Bruocsella, this is a Lambic and not a blend like Gueuze. What a treat, and very rare as lambics are not often bottled, but served on cask.

See what you can find and what you like!

dougdecinces

Recipes 

I've only had about 4-5 so far, but no two favorites were Lindeman's Cuvee Rene' (a real lambic, not that backsweetened stuff) and the Duchesse. I love the up-front mouth-puckering tartness you get from Cuvee Rene`. It does not mess around. Duchesse has an intoxicating aroma (balsamic and cherries mostly) and just plain tastes great. If the Duchesse were real, I would run away with her.

jvlpdillon

Recipes 

Some great beer's have been mentioned.

As you are on the East Coast you may have a hard time sourcing Russian River, but the entire lineup is good. Supplication is my perfect favorite.

Jolly Pumpkin makes some great sours too. They are based out of Michigan so maybe a bit easier to find. Look for La Roja.

If you want to learn to brew sours look for the book Wild Brews, and read this blog: http://www.themadfermentationist.com/ don't forget the Lambic and Wild forum.

zepolmot

Recipes 

+1 for RR's sours, i'm a fan of consecration

stubbornman

Recipes 

Mine too.

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RosewaterFoundation

Recipes 

I third this. To date, the best American sour I've had, easily.

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TopherM

Recipes 

I don't know about Maryland, but here in Florida they have Lindemann's Lambics, Krieks, and Framboise sours at almost every liquor store in town. That's a pretty good place to start.

I see you have a ABC, BevMo, and Total Wine close to Lisbon, I guarantee they have several examples of other sours as well. Other common sour styles include Gueuze, Faro, Pecheresse, Cuvee Rene, and Cassis. No one is going to really advertise their beer as "Sour" as this is a bad marketing technique. Look for beers marked with these styles....they are most often packaged in 375ml or 750ml wine bottles.

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ArtVandelay

Recipes 

I think its appropriate to 4th this. It's that good (RR supplication)