What is your favorite commercial lambic/ sour beer and why?

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TANSTAAFB

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I have been brewing for about a year now, most of that AG. I am intrigued by the process of lambic brewing but have had a couple of negative experiences with sour beers. One I tried at local award winning brewery Freetail in San Antonio actually made me want to spit it out as soon as it hit my mouth and then scrub my tastebuds with steel wool to get that VILE taste out of my mouth. After some reading here (on HBT) and there, I am becoming more familiar with the process and the bugs and stuff that contribute the unique tastes of these brews.

The problem is I can't taste words on a screen so I won't understand fully until I try a few GOOD lambic and/ or sour brews. I tried a Lindeman's Kriek and I think I could approximate the flavor with a cherry coke and some cheap vodka. I was pissed I spent $7 on it. Now I would like to track down what you the experienced brewers and drinkers of these unique brews consider to be good commercial examples. Please post what it is, where you would look for it, what to expect in terms of taste, and what you think contributes to those flavors.

I am aware that I just might not like sour beer, but I am not willing to concede that without trying a few. Considering my past experiences, if you really enjoy the equivalent of a 100+ IBU example of the style, please say it is an extreme example and assume I'm not the sour equivalent of a hophead and recommend something to ease me into the style. I am willing to try anything once and I would really like to try my hand at brewing some of these, but I don't want to make something I will hate.

Thanks for the help and I look forward to tasting your suggestions :mug:
 
Favorite sour is probably either Dutchesse de Bourgogne or Russian River Supplication.

Haven't had a lambic I was crazy about yet.
 
Lindeman's Kriek isn't really a sour (unless it was the Cuvee Rene Kriek, but that's only available in certain years in Belgium so it's unlikely); it's a backsweetened pseudo-lambic that most people in this forum don't consider a sour at all. Liefman's and St Louis incarnations are likewise not really true sours.

My top sours:

Lost Abbey has 2: Framboise de Amorosa and Red Poppy.
Cantillon Lou Pepe Kriek and Cantillon Rose de Gambrinus (the Lou Pepe Framboise and Cantillon Kriek are very close to that top level).

Russian River Supplication is close to that top tier; likewise the Bruery Oude Tart.
 
Favorite sour is probably either Dutchesse de Bourgogne

Duchesse is certainly a real sour; I'm not a huge fan (it's not bad, but not in my tops) for 2 reasons:
a) It's a little backsweetened or overly residually sweet, which takes away from the real sour experience
b) it is really vinegary; that's a legitimate, true-to-style Flanders Red taste, but I prefer a broader lacto/pedio sourness rather than an acetic, vinegary sour.

But it's definitely worth
 
Duchesse is certainly a real sour; I'm not a huge fan (it's not bad, but not in my tops) for 2 reasons:
a) It's a little backsweetened or overly residually sweet, which takes away from the real sour experience
b) it is really vinegary; that's a legitimate, true-to-style Flanders Red taste, but I prefer a broader lacto/pedio sourness rather than an acetic, vinegary sour.

But it's definitely worth

Thanks y'all for the quick replies. So Sumner, what WOULD you recommend? I think I would prefer something that is not overly vinegary...
 
Thanks y'all for the quick replies. So Sumner, what WOULD you recommend? I think I would prefer something that is not overly vinegary...

Find 1 good lambic/kriek/framboise: Cantillon, Hanssen's, etc. You should be able to find a Cantillon with a little bit of searching.

Find 1 good sour brown: Russian River Supplication, Lost Abbey Red Poppy, etc. That's a harder find, but well worth the effort.

Those are 2 opposite ends of the spectrum; start with them and see what you like.

I'm sure other people will have other recommendations, too; those are just my favorites.
 
Monks cafe Flemish Red is sour but not overly so, no vinegar, and very little brett, its a pretty good intro as its pretty cheap and fairly mild compared to others. From there I would say try a Petrus Aged Pale, and then start stepping into some Gueuze, and once you are used to that things like Rodenbach.

EDIT: After skimming some other responses, I would like to also rec. Jolly Pumpkin if you can find it, they have some fantastic examples of what a sour can be, and their dregs make a great contribution. I don't believe they are on the shelves in TX, but if you have connections in these parts they are readily available and not terribly expensive, I think I pay about $10 a 750 which is not bad for a sour/wild.
 
I am a big fan of some of the New Belgium Lips of Faith series: Transatlantique Kriek, Imperial Berliner Weisse, Vrienden Ale and of course La Folie. It doesn't hurt that I live about 40 minutes from them and go and drink their beer for free about once a month.

I really like Jolly Pumpkin, Russian River and Lost Abbey, when I can get them (which is mostly at GABF unless I score a bottle down in Denver or Boulder).

Happy tastings on all the fantastic beers posted in this thread. If you end up scratching off the top layer of your tongue with steel wool, take a picture and post it in the "show us your pelicule" thread.
 
La Folie from New Belgium is pretty sour and kind of vinegary. Great beer just kind of vinegary.

Eric's Sour From New Belgium is much less vinegary, and has peaches, but not sweet.

I really like Victenaar for a sour brown similar to Duchesse De Bourgogne. Really the vinegar flavor is not pronounced.

I had a crappy bartender tell me Monk's Cafe tastes like ketchup. I left.

Russian River Supplication is in my top 5 of all beers, it is $12-15 a bottle though.

For a starter stay away form Girardin Gueuze 1882 (Black Label). This is really intense if you aren't expecting it. It is true sour beer and one the best examples in the world. However it would be like going from BMC to American Barelywine in intensity.
 
Drie Fonteinen Oude Gueuze has the perfect balance of fruit, funk, and sourness (without being too aggressive). Some of the special “Vintage” versions are among the best beers I’ve ever had.

Jolly Pumpkin Bam Bier is up there too, light, tart, hoppy when fresh, Bretty when aged.

Russian River’s first batch of Beatification (PH1) may be my favorite beer of all time. I enjoy the “new” spontaneous version, but that first one (Redemption aged in la Folie barrels) had this amazing floral/wood/sour thing that I’ve never tasted in another beer. I only had one bottle of it, about four years ago, but it was my first sour beer love.
 
+1 for jolly pumpkin's Bam Bier.
It a nice mellow sour with some bready-ness to back it up, not the super intense sour of some i've had.
 
I enjoy the milder end of sours. I like Petrus Oud Bruin and lambic/gueuze. I was not a fan of La Folie or Duchess. I felt like both tasted like vinegar. I realize some people greatly enjoy that flavor. I'm just not one of those people.

I greatly enjoy the taste of brett and some sourness but I don't get into the vinegar sourness.
 
I am no sour expert. I got to try my first sour about a week ago it was jolly pumpkin oro de calabasa. I realize it is probably not one of the stronger sours out there but it was a very light and refreshing beer. Hearing some of the descriptions kind of scared me, I can't imagine drinking a pint of vinegar but to each his own.
 
Happy tastings on all the fantastic beers posted in this thread. If you end up scratching off the top layer of your tongue with steel wool, take a picture and post it in the "show us your pelicule" thread.

Its a deal :D (there is no appropriate emoticon for tongue scouring, but there should be...mods?)

I am overwhelmed by the response to this thread. I know it is guiding me in the right direction and I hope it helps others dip their toes into the sea of sours.

I decided to stop into a new (to me) Gabriel's around the corner from work and was pleasantly surprised to meet Robert, a true beer geek and incredibly knowledgable man. He owned a liquor store in CA renowned for its incredible selection, homebrewer of 30+ years, and has worked for a couple of micros in recipe development. This was a refreshing change from the San Marcos location where the college kids who work the place know how to get f&%$ed up but not much else!!! Unfortunately, he informed me that Cantillon and Russian River anything is out in good ole Tejas, but I will compile a list from this thread and challenge him to find me a few.

If you live in San Antone, this guy is a wealth of information and is too glad to talk beer...I spent over an hour talking and could have stayed much longer.
 
You should be able to find Lindeman's Cuve Renee (gueuze) at a decently stocked liquor store. You may find their faro as well. Faro is a backsweetened lambic (but not as bad as the Lindeman's fruit lambics).

You can find Duchess, if you are willing to give it a whirl, at Central Markets, Majestic and Specs. You can also find Petrus Aged Pale and Petrus Oud Bruin at Specs. Specs should also have La Folie, Transatlanque Kriek and some other random sours. Specs usually have somebody knowledgeable working around the beer that can point you in the right direction. I don't know how far off from Specs you are but I know they are around the Austin area.
 
if you have paypal, and like to live on the wild side of postal service law, i may be able to help you find some russian. ive not mailed "live yeast samples" before, but hey, it can be a first experience for both of us. pm me if you are still stuck by weeks end.

is it ironic that i am drinking a bottle of rr temptation right now?
 
Lindemans Gueuze... my first sour ever. still an all time fav... I just can't find it very often, but when i do I buy what I can get! rough day at work... would love one for LUNCH!
 
Russian River Sanctification is my ideal 'sour' beer. However, I think its only sold at the brew pub in Santa Rosa, CA. It's not too sour, no acetic acid and tons of complexity. I wish I lived in Santa Rosa simply for that beer.

Besides that, Jolly Pumpkin Bam Biere is a great place to start in terms of getting into the style.
 
I like most sours (unless they are heavily backsweetened), but my favorites are Belgian Lambics. Cantillon Iris is probably my favorite of the bunch - it defies attempts at verbal descriptions.

Domestically, I have really enjoyed Cigar City's sours. Sea Bass was very awesome! Vuja De was a very interesting one as well on tap, but I haven't tried the bottled version yet.

I haven't had the chance to try any Russian River or New Glarus sours, which are reportedly also top tier in the U.S.
 
I'm a big fan of Rodenbach Grand Cru and most of Russian River's barrel aged beers.

I'll give a +1 for Jolly Pumpkin Bam Biere. I find all the JP beers to be approachable. Even my friends that aren't really into sours "yet" still find them interesting and palatable.
 
I just realized I forgot to plug our local sour house, not sure if it is distributed to Texas, but if you see anything from Cascade Barrel House out of Portland down your way, they are all brett, all barrel aged, and they are all pretty good. I think they only come in 750ml bottles, but they should be under 20 bucks, maybe closer to 15. cascade link

one interesting thing they do is sour a lot of traditional beer styles, so if you ever wondered what a sour ipa or a sour porter would taste like, this is the place. they brew up their normal beers in a different location, and then truck over half of it to sour in a separate brewery... smart if you ask me!
 
if you have paypal, and like to live on the wild side of postal service law, i may be able to help you find some russian. ive not mailed "live yeast samples" before, but hey, it can be a first experience for both of us. pm me if you are still stuck by weeks end.

is it ironic that i am drinking a bottle of rr temptation right now?

Pay day is the end of the month and you my friend are now saved to the top of the homebrew favorites :rockin:

Any Texas brews you have a hankering to sample? Nothing really comes close to the beervana that is the NW + RR, but I am happy to reciprocate :tank: I really like a lot of Real Ale's stuff, but they aren't doing anything very outrageous, just tasty as hell!!! I was born in CA and grew up in Oregon but moved to Texas long before I could ever sample the hoppy malty goodness of my youth. Imagine my surprise when I discovered Rogue set up shop in my old stomping grounds right around the time I left!!!

I'll PM ya in a couple of weeks...I think shipping via FedEx or UPS is frowned upon but not illegal as w/ the good ole USPS.
 

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