Can anyone recommend me some good sour beers? I've never tried one and cant seem to find any. Does any one know if any local breweries in Northern Va sell sours? or where i can get some good sours around this area?
Sour Beers
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TheZymurgist
Well-Known Member
I would start with something more mild, like Rodenbach Grand Cru, or Liefman's Goudenband. Both are traditional Belgians, and have a great balance of sour and funk without being too much. After you try those, go to the opposite end of the spectrum. Try Westbrook's Gose, or something from The Bruery. Many people love The Bruery's Tart of Darkness, but it was too sour for me. I could barely get through a glass. But, having tasted that, going back to less sour beers is much easier.
It's kind of like a person's first foray outside of American Lagers. Their first pale ale seems way too hoppy and bitter, but after they've tried a double IPA, a pale ale seems like nothing.
It's kind of like a person's first foray outside of American Lagers. Their first pale ale seems way too hoppy and bitter, but after they've tried a double IPA, a pale ale seems like nothing.
Natdavis777
Well-Known Member
Bacchus was the first sour I tried, and fell in love. It's an Oud Bruin. Cuvée Des Jacobins Rouge is another solid sour, which is a Flanders Red. Like stated above though, you might work your way into the more tart beers. I love Tart of Darkness, I could drink gallons of it (so I think). We poured some Darkness for a friend who was over recently and had also never tried a sour beer, and he loved it.
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TasunkaWitko
Well-Known Member
If you get any beer from New Belgium, the "Snapshot" is a mildly-sour beer that I really like....
Agreed.
They are an acquired taste.
For a BMC drinker for instance wanting to try some of your homebrew, you would want to start them off with a cream ale or blonde ale perhaps and not an imperial IPA or RIS.
Same with sour beers. If you start with a mouth pucker beer you may be turned off.
The regular rodenbach is also rather mild. Try some Brett beers as well. Orval is widely available. Monks cafe and Petrus beers are also readily available. You might also like the twang in NB's Snapshot. Goose island sofie, is rather mild and a bit funky. Not sure about what you can buy nearby, but check out wherethesourbeersare.com I think it's called. It's not 100% accurate but is a good place to start. Once you identify some breweries that you know make the sours, you can use seekabrew.com to see which states they distribute to.
TD
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They are an acquired taste.
For a BMC drinker for instance wanting to try some of your homebrew, you would want to start them off with a cream ale or blonde ale perhaps and not an imperial IPA or RIS.
Same with sour beers. If you start with a mouth pucker beer you may be turned off.
The regular rodenbach is also rather mild. Try some Brett beers as well. Orval is widely available. Monks cafe and Petrus beers are also readily available. You might also like the twang in NB's Snapshot. Goose island sofie, is rather mild and a bit funky. Not sure about what you can buy nearby, but check out wherethesourbeersare.com I think it's called. It's not 100% accurate but is a good place to start. Once you identify some breweries that you know make the sours, you can use seekabrew.com to see which states they distribute to.
TD
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ABVIBUSRM
Well-Known Member
For your first sour i would recommend lindemans cuvee renee..its widely available and a good starting point in the world of sour's IMO
wardens355
Well-Known Member
I would go to your local liquor store or beer shop and ask them what sour beers they have, and if they have any special sour beer releases that are not on display. Maybe you get lucky and find an employee or owner that knows a lot about sours! A few widely distributed American sours that come to mind are New Belgium La Folie and Le Terroir, Boulevard Love Child No 4, and various Jolly Pumpkin releases. The local liquor store here just got some Le Terroir in recently.
A little Q&A with the local beer/liquor store and some field recon or phone calls to local breweries should help you locate sour beer in your area. The import sours mentioned in the posts above should be good places to start as well. Just remember, keep an open mind. My first sour was Duchesse de Bourgogne, a Flanders Red Ale, and the slight acetic vinegary aroma and taste put me off pretty quickly. After trying several sours I began to develop a fondness for them. Non-pasteurized bottles can also change significantly over time, so a 'younger' sour may taste different than an aged sour.
A little Q&A with the local beer/liquor store and some field recon or phone calls to local breweries should help you locate sour beer in your area. The import sours mentioned in the posts above should be good places to start as well. Just remember, keep an open mind. My first sour was Duchesse de Bourgogne, a Flanders Red Ale, and the slight acetic vinegary aroma and taste put me off pretty quickly. After trying several sours I began to develop a fondness for them. Non-pasteurized bottles can also change significantly over time, so a 'younger' sour may taste different than an aged sour.
feinbera
Well-Known Member
New Belgium's Terroir and La Folie might also be good first sours... well, maybe second sours, anyway, in addition to what these other guys have already mentioned. And you should be able to find them at nice bottle shops pretty much anywhere in the country, at least when they're released (they're seasonal).
Russian River and Cascade make some excellent sours, but given they're not especially well-distributed here on the West Coast (the breweries are in Santa Rosa, CA, and Portland, OR, respectively), you'd probably be hard-pressed to find them in Virginia.
Russian River and Cascade make some excellent sours, but given they're not especially well-distributed here on the West Coast (the breweries are in Santa Rosa, CA, and Portland, OR, respectively), you'd probably be hard-pressed to find them in Virginia.
What part of NOVA are you in? If there is a Total Wine near you they have a huge selection of craft brews and you can find a few of every type.
Sours can be varying in flavor as well as tartness. Do you remember warheads candies from the 90s? Some can be that sour, only in liquid form.
An somewhat easy step in during the summer is dogfish heads festina peche. Not overly sour, but is an introduction to the kind of flavors some can have. Petrus has some more potent offerings.
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j1n
Well-Known Member
Been to total wine. Last time i was there i found like 1 sour beer and it was infused with raspberries so i passed on it.
Im in Lorton, not far from you.
If you can find Crooked Stave Surette or Vieille they are a great intro to the tart taste profile, even though they are 100% Brett and not truly sours.
The New Belgium beers mentioned are excellent also.
Dr. Frtiz Briem's 1809 Berliner Wiesse (Germany) is an outstanding mild sour, my favorite Berliner-style.
The New Belgium beers mentioned are excellent also.
Dr. Frtiz Briem's 1809 Berliner Wiesse (Germany) is an outstanding mild sour, my favorite Berliner-style.
TheZymurgist
Well-Known Member
How did I forget the Duchesse?? That's one of my all time favorites! Jolly Pumpkin, Crooked Stave, and Russian River really need to start selling in Georgia. We have a serious vacuum of sour beers here.
ah the lambic. yeah. You could try something like this
http://www.totalwine.com/eng/product/belgian-sour-power-sampler-pack/123326811
Wow, I didnt realize the selection was this extensive.
http://www.totalwine.com/eng/search/sour!categories/beer!viewPerPage/96
Oh nevermind, that is not all sour beers, but still.
I have enjoyed the following
Duchesse De Bourgogne
the offerings from Petrus (love the aged pale)
New Belgium Lips of Faith La Folie, La Terrior
Natdavis777
Well-Known Member
Upland Brewery dove head first into sours a couple years ago and they are pumping out solid beers. If anyone has a chance to get their hands on some, I'd suggest picking one up. Their sours are more on the intense side, but they have winning awards around here pretty regularly
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j1n
Well-Known Member
Oh wow, i was totally unaware i could order online and pickup in store. Didn't even think of it. I would just go and see what they have.
NunoAraujo
Well-Known Member
Unfortunately I haven't had a lot of sour beers, but from my experience Verhaeghe's Duchesse de Bourgogne is great for an introduction. A lot of my non-beer-savvy friends have tried it, and most of them really liked it. It's got this vinegary sourness, with port and malt sweetness...
wardens355
Well-Known Member
If Russian River distributed to the Midwest it would save me a lot of money on shipping 12-15 bottles back from my friend's place in SF. Maybe one day...
Duchesse de Bourgogne, a Flanders Red Ale, is probably the best beer I've ever had. Love it. New Belgium La Folie and Le Terroir are also very, very good. I prefer La Folie over Le Terroir.
Make sure to chill the sour power box for a bit, they have sediment and get chunky. The monks cafe is sweeter than the other two in there and i have found chunks of grape muat (still sweet) when pouring one.
enjoy.
enjoy.
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j1n
Well-Known Member
Thanks for the info. Much appreciated.
wardens355
Well-Known Member
Another vote for New Belgium la Folie. It's an Oud Bruinish sour. If you can, get 2013 over 2014, although both are excellent, the 2013 is more complex, maybe because of sheer age.
wardens355
Well-Known Member
Unfortunately they pasteurize the beer now, so aging does not necessarily provide much benefit.
Oh, they do now? Are ALL their Lips of Faith pasteurized? I wanted so use some of the dregs.
La Folie is blended, containing 2 and 3 year ale, so that will account for most of the difference year to year/batch to batch anyway.
Some of the Lips of Faith are a bit gimmicky (e.g., coconut curry) or not real sours, but IMO still worth the experience. The Pluot is a bit sweet actually.
wardens355
Well-Known Member
I was under the impression that once they transitioned from cork 'n cage to regular caps they began pasteurization. The only dregs would then be any yeast they use for bottling, so no sour bugs.
TheZymurgist
Well-Known Member
Forgot to mention, Sam Adam's sours are actually pretty good as well. They're all blends with what they call their "Kosmic Mother Funk" which is their aged sour.
