And while I will say I did not hate it, I would say it is definitely an acquired taste. It wasn't bad, but the aftertaste lived up to the name for sure. LOL
Had my first taste of a sour beer
- Thread starter redrocker652002
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Sours are kinda like IPAs... all over the board!
I've tried some fruit sours that didn't even seem sour because of the residual sugars, but I've also had a couple where I was wondering how much enamel was erased from my teeth!
I've tried some fruit sours that didn't even seem sour because of the residual sugars, but I've also had a couple where I was wondering how much enamel was erased from my teeth!
BrewnWKopperKat
ʘ‿ʘ
Fruited sours are (were?) a fun novelty beverage.
Berliner Weisse (4%, often fruit flavored) done well is a delight.
Berliner Weisse (4%, often fruit flavored) done well is a delight.
worlddivides
Well-Known Member
Sours are my favorite overarching category of beers. If you had, say, a traditional lambic (i.e. non-sweetened) or even had a gueuze, then yes, those are acquired tastes. Even Flanders red ales and so on are acquired tastes. It's part of the reason why the most famous, best selling Belgian sours like Lindemans are not traditional at all in that they sweeten them up a lot because most people will find them too sour.
Berliner Weisses and the more modern fruited sour ales, though, I do not consider acquired tastes, since those reduce the sourness quite a bit (drinking a gueuze can be more similar to drinking vinegar than to drinking a lager, for example), add popular fruit flavors, and sweeten everything up (either not using bacteria at all or kettle souring, for example).
Sours are a pretty huge category and I've known people who thought they hated sours but ended up just liking some kinds of sours and hating other kinds.
A lemon/lime gose isn't a great introduction to the style since it's getting much of its sourness from sour fruits and not from the bacteria and wild yeast, though it might be a very delicious beer. I love the idea of making a key lime pie sour, but you could actually make sour drinks without actually doing what I consider key to sour beers (the souring by the bacteria and wild yeast).
Berliner Weisses and the more modern fruited sour ales, though, I do not consider acquired tastes, since those reduce the sourness quite a bit (drinking a gueuze can be more similar to drinking vinegar than to drinking a lager, for example), add popular fruit flavors, and sweeten everything up (either not using bacteria at all or kettle souring, for example).
Sours are a pretty huge category and I've known people who thought they hated sours but ended up just liking some kinds of sours and hating other kinds.
A lemon/lime gose isn't a great introduction to the style since it's getting much of its sourness from sour fruits and not from the bacteria and wild yeast, though it might be a very delicious beer. I love the idea of making a key lime pie sour, but you could actually make sour drinks without actually doing what I consider key to sour beers (the souring by the bacteria and wild yeast).
Have to say I always hated sour beers and while I still don't like the over the top sour beers out there, I can drink the more moderate ones. Had a Key Lime Pie sour when I was in Florida that was amazing and recently a friend had someone leave a couple Berliner Weiss beers in his fridge that he said were disgusting, I drank them. Even have started dabbling in making them, brewed a Gose two years ago and another one two weeks ago, both kettle soured, and last year made a Catharina Sour with guava puree that I used Sourvisiae yeast to sour it. Planning to try brewing a Berliner Weiss next year.
We love a good sour beer, usually as a lower-alcohol alternative to wine or in the case of our wild-fermented ciders.
The sour culture makes a big difference when you make them. If you find a bottle you like, sanitize the lip, cover with sanitized foil, and then store in the fridge until ready to pitch. You can then add those bottles to a primary or secondary, and let the bugs go to town. They will duke it out until you get what becomes your house culture. It may take a few years to really develop. Remember that most of those wild beasties are going to permeate your soft parts, so keep separate hoses, gaskets, etc. just for your sours. I have a two-tap kegerator just for anything with wild bugs in it, currently a tapped-out passionfruit saison (about to become a guava cider) and a Bretted barley wine.
My house culture comes from the grapes that we grow; it's in multiple generations at this point, so whatever it is, it's ours. Generally, it's a fruity sour front, biscuity middle, and (generally) a sweet-tart (not the candy) finish. Depends on what we added to the fermenter, how long it aged, etc. We like our enamel, so we aren't going for that, but we like drier, so any residual sweetness is usually long-chain starches that didn't get eaten or fruit components we added to that batch.
Check out Michael Tonsmiere's book, "American Sour Beers."
If you go from enjoying to producing, it's a just some extra steps, a little more cleaning, and a lot of aging.
The sour culture makes a big difference when you make them. If you find a bottle you like, sanitize the lip, cover with sanitized foil, and then store in the fridge until ready to pitch. You can then add those bottles to a primary or secondary, and let the bugs go to town. They will duke it out until you get what becomes your house culture. It may take a few years to really develop. Remember that most of those wild beasties are going to permeate your soft parts, so keep separate hoses, gaskets, etc. just for your sours. I have a two-tap kegerator just for anything with wild bugs in it, currently a tapped-out passionfruit saison (about to become a guava cider) and a Bretted barley wine.
My house culture comes from the grapes that we grow; it's in multiple generations at this point, so whatever it is, it's ours. Generally, it's a fruity sour front, biscuity middle, and (generally) a sweet-tart (not the candy) finish. Depends on what we added to the fermenter, how long it aged, etc. We like our enamel, so we aren't going for that, but we like drier, so any residual sweetness is usually long-chain starches that didn't get eaten or fruit components we added to that batch.
Check out Michael Tonsmiere's book, "American Sour Beers."
If you go from enjoying to producing, it's a just some extra steps, a little more cleaning, and a lot of aging.
![Craft A Brew - Safale BE-256 Yeast - Fermentis - Belgian Ale Dry Yeast - For Belgian & Strong Ales - Ingredients for Home Brewing - Beer Making Supplies - [3 Pack]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51bcKEwQmWL._SL500_.jpg)
Should I see a doctor about this???
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