Sour beer fail

[PKHomeBrew]

On this past weekend I ran in an organized run called The Beer Run. It's a run consisting of 1000 people (4 waves of 250 people each) that do a tour of local breweries, by running from brewery to brewery. During this run each brewery gives away some beer and we drink at each stop. It's not a race and a whole lot of fun.

One of the stops has a new seasonal beer that was a sour beer. I am not usually a fan of overtly sour beers, but I gave this one a try. Without exaggerating much I can say it tasted like vomit. The smell, a combo of beer/vomit, smelled like my friends dorm hallway in university back in the day .

I was not the only person who was not a fan of this beer, as I heard many exclaim how bad it was.

What could have happened? Is it common for sour beers to pick up vomity off flavours? Could it have been done in any way on purpose?

It makes me wonder why overtly sour beers are popular. From my unscientific observation they appear to be rising in popularity.

Do you think that the popularity is coming from the producer (brewers) or the consumer? Brewers may like making them because they are a challenge to get right. Maybe Brewers are looking for the 'next ipa'.

I can tell you one thing, those three sips of that one beer this past weekend have soured me on the whole genre of sour beer (see what I did there?).

 

[andrewmaixner]

If you are interested in learning about it, I'd say it sounds like an improperly done sour mash http://www.milkthefunk.com/wiki/Sour_Mashing :

vomit smell is: http://www.milkthefunk.com/wiki/Butyric_Acid and is often accompanied by http://www.milkthefunk.com/wiki/Isovaleric_Acid when you 'do it wrong'.

Info on the processes: http://www.milkthefunk.com/wiki/Wort_Souring

 

[PKHomeBrew]

If you are interested in learning about it, I'd say it sounds like an improperly done sour mash http://www.milkthefunk.com/wiki/Sour_Mashing :

vomit smell is: http://www.milkthefunk.com/wiki/Butyric_Acid and is often accompanied by http://www.milkthefunk.com/wiki/Isovaleric_Acid when you 'do it wrong'.

Info on the processes: http://www.milkthefunk.com/wiki/Wort_Souring

Wow! What great information. That is precisely the off flavour. If I had to be honest, the off flavour was definitely more of an off Aroma than a flavour. However it's pretty hard to separate the vomit aroma from the flavour. Once you smell that, you also taste it.

I may try another sour beer, but I am in no hurry at this point.

 

[andrewmaixner]

Wow! What great information. That is precisely the off flavour. If I had to be honest, the off flavour was definitely more of an off Aroma than a flavour. However it's pretty hard to separate the vomit aroma from the flavour. Once you smell that, you also taste it.

I may try another sour beer, but I am in no hurry at this point.

Please don't let one business's abject failure put you off of the whole style. There are probably a number of great sours in your local highend bottle shop. Here's some random lists of offerings from well-regarded breweries:
https://www.ratebeer.com/top/sour-red-brown
https://www.ratebeer.com/beerstyles/sour-wild-ale/52/
I'd personally recommend Le Terroir from New Belgium as a great introduction.