Recommendations for a good sour?

I'm curious to brew something a sour of some form. I've had a few fruit lambics over the years, but outside of that, I don't think I've ever had a proper sour beer. Any recommendations on a good sour style to start with, and any recommendations on a commercial brew that's a good demonstration of one of the style I can try before I even consider attempting to brew one?

bell's brewery - oarsmen

pretty simple straight forward example.

See if you can get your hands on a Rodenbach, or Rodenbach Gran Cru.

http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/641/1745

ChemE said:

http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/641/1745

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I need to try this again. I'm on record as saying that it was the worst beer I've ever had. But I think it was my fault, I didn't really know what I was ordering. I was at this awesome little beer bar called Stubbies and was a couple in and started ordering wildly off the menu.

ceweldon said:

I need to try this again. I'm on record as saying that it was the worst beer I've ever had. But I think it was my fault, I didn't really know what I was ordering. I was at this awesome little beer bar called Stubbies and was a couple in and started ordering wildly off the menu.

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This is exactly why I intend to try one before I brew one. I'm not sure if I'll like it. Both Flanders suggestions are allegedly available locally, so I'll pick one and give it a shot.

Another great Flanders Red (and one of the few traditionally produced these days, though from Italy) is Panil Bariquée sour. Man it's delicious.

This beer has a permanent spot in my top 10. Not cheap but worth every penny!

ChemE said:

http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/641/1745

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This is down right my favorite sour. I picked up a 4 pack when I was out of town. I feel like a sucker for not buying more.

head over to the lambic brewing forum - it degenerates into a sour forum most of the time..

duchess is a good sour as is rodenbach, but imo they don't hold a candle to ichtegems... probably just a personal taste thing, but dayum - that's a good beer. my all time favorite is RRB supplication but i'm very biased.

if you're going to brew sours, just make sure you can wait a year - sh** takes forever. a nice quick sour is a berliner weiss. you can get that in a bottle pretty quick but it's very different than all the beers in this thread.

jtakacs said:

a nice quick sour is a berliner weiss. you can get that in a bottle pretty quick but it's very different than all the beers in this thread.

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I was actually thinking that initially, as it's low gravity enough that I can get away with doing an AG on my meager equipment...I'd want to pick up an extra bucket and hoses for it right, so as to keep from contaminating non-sours? Good commercial example? So I can try that side by side with the Flanders Reds and see which I like better (or possibly hate em both )

Daybis said:

This is down right my favorite sour. I picked up a 4 pack when I was out of town. I feel like a sucker for not buying more.

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I vote this one as well. Just had a 750ml bottle a couple weeks ago and loved it.

I think it's foul too. It tastes like rotten sherry to me.

I like Grand Dame Oud Bruin a lot. Less vinegary than you typically find with the style.

ceweldon said:

I need to try this again. I'm on record as saying that it was the worst beer I've ever had. But I think it was my fault, I didn't really know what I was ordering. I was at this awesome little beer bar called Stubbies and was a couple in and started ordering wildly off the menu.

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ChemE said:

http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/641/1745

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I like it but it's a bit sweet for my tastes.

I love the Duchesse. Russian River Consecration is very good too, but hard to find (Denver, Phila, and West Coast only).

This one, Marrõn Acidifie, is pretty uncommon, a colaboration brew between The Bruery and Cigar City. Very tart. Tasty, a dark sour.

The Bruery makes a great Berlinerweiss as well, Hottenroth.

haven't seen that locally - gonna have to see if i can find them here...

robtotten said:

I think it's foul too. It tastes like rotten sherry to me.

I like Grand Dame Oud Bruin a lot. Less vinegary than you typically find with the style.

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Grand Dame is beautiful, almost wine like. I loved it. Another decent sour that is probably more widely distributed (but not as good) is New Belgium's La Folie.

1809 Berlinerweiss

harrydrez said:

1809 Berlinerweiss

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Had one of those this past wkend. 5% berliner wiesse is a bit out of style, but it was very good regardless. My next batch is a berliner weisse.

The more affordable, widely available yet still tasty sours are probably Lindeman's Cuvee Rene and Petrus Aged Pale. Avoid any of Lindeman's fruit lambics because they are sweetened to the point of being disgusting.

I've had Lindeman's fruit lambics in the past. I thought the same thing. Very, very sweet. My wife loves em

I picked up a bottle of Duchesse and The Bruery's Hottenroth today. I'll give em both a taste here in the next few days. Hopefully I'll enjoy. That bottle of Duchesse was f'in expensive. But I picked up some Rochefort 10 while I was there, so either way not a wasted trip

Yeah, Lindeman's is hardly beer, and a damn waste of precious, authentic lambic (which IS hidden underneath the pasteurization, filtering, fruit, and all that sugar, believe it or not.) If I'm going to have a backsweetened fruit lambic, at least Mort Subite has some recognizable lambic taste, if you're paying attention.

One of my absolute favorite beers, Panil Barriquée (and some other Flanders Reds as well) tastes like there is SOME amount of cherries, berries, and similar fruit added to the beer - though less than you'd get in a typical fruit lambic - but there's no actual fruit at all. The malts, microorganisms, and processes combine to make a beer which is far more wine-like than any other style.

arturo7 said:

See if you can get your hands on a Rodenbach, or Rodenbach Gran Cru.

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+1. If you're a little scared, regular Rodenbach (1/4 sour) is fine, but the Grand Cru (2/3 sour) is the best Flanders I've ever had. It's relatively cheap, too; I think I paid about $9 for a 750.

Had my first taste of a real sour yesterday, when we took the tour at the New Belgium brewery at Fort Collins. I didn't expect to be plied with quite that much beer- but I'm not complaining, mind.
The last beer we were served was the Folie, and it was......interesting. I'm still in the process of evaluating whether I'm interested in brewing some sour myself.

I find La Folie too acetic to enjoy. I don't care for Duchess and many other Flanders reds because they taste too much like balsamic vinegar. I do enjoy a good lambic and oud bruin. If you don't like one or two sours that doesn't mean you won't enjoy any sours.

Wild Devil (pretty sure that was a sour) was great

rico567 said:

Had my first taste of a real sour yesterday, when we took the tour at the New Belgium brewery at Fort Collins. I didn't expect to be plied with quite that much beer- but I'm not complaining, mind.
The last beer we were served was the Folie, and it was......interesting. I'm still in the process of evaluating whether I'm interested in brewing some sour myself.

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I know it is the top ranked Flanders red ale in the world but for me personally it is way over the top too bitter. The Duchesse stomps La Folie as judged by my palette!

Another sour beer to be considered is a Kentucky Common. Commercial examples are exceedingly scarce but Magic Hat's Odd Notion 2009 was a sour brown ale which seems to fit the style parameters of a Kentucky Common. When I emailed the brewery for hints on the recipe I was completely ignored. Not the sort of response or behavior I would have expected from a craft brewery.

Thundercougarfalconbird said:

Wild Devil (pretty sure that was a sour) was great

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It's not a sour. It is brewed with brett, which is a wild yeast, but you don't really get any sourness from it.

ceweldon said:

I was at this awesome little beer bar called Stubbies and was a couple in and started ordering wildly off the menu.

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Hey man, you ever come down to Hoggetown Ale Works on University to buy your gear and ingredients? You should come to a brew class if you haven't. The owner is awesome and at least 2 of the staff are on this board.

I gave both the Hottenroth and Duchesse a taste tonight. Berliner-weisse is off the table. It was interesting and worth a try, but not a fan. Now Duchesse is amazing. I'll add it to my list of "eventually I'll brew this" beers. Thanks for the suggestions everyone!

My pleasure and I'm glad you dug the Duchesse!

I haven't had many, but so far my favorites are Supplication from Russian River & Le Terroir from New Belgium.

I would vote for a berliner weisse also, tasty and refreshing. There was an article in a recent zymurgy about making a sour starter pre-boil and getting the complexity of an authentic culture without possibly contaminating your equipment. Seems pretty easy and quicker than most sours.

edecambra said:

I would vote for a berliner weisse also, tasty and refreshing. There was an article in a recent zymurgy about making a sour starter pre-boil and getting the complexity of an authentic culture without possibly contaminating your equipment. Seems pretty easy and quicker than most sours.

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sour mash couldn't be easier. Bit of risk though. I'm giving it a shot this wkend.

Thanks to the site update and me having to get used to navigating it, found myself looking through my old threads. Came upon this one, and realized it's been one year today since I had my first sour. And now I love 'em. Heh. The Berliner Weisse style has really grown on me. Haven't had Hottenroth since that first bottle, so I really need to give it another shot.

The best idea is to avoid sour beers before you get obsessed with them.

Truthiness, it rocks your perception of what beer is.

Bobby_M said:

The best idea is to avoid sour beers before you get obsessed with them.

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Little late for that now. Heh.