tdogg
Well-Known Member
i want to try sour/lambic beers, but have no idea where to start. suggestions? i live in minneapolis, so if you know of a particular store i can go to that would be great.
sour beer newb in MN
- Thread starter tdogg
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slowbie
Well-Known Member
First of all, I hope you are prepared for the fact that these are expensive relative to other beers, but IMO it is well worth it.
My recommendations (most of this should make it to MN, but some may be hard to find):
American Wild Ales: Basically a catch-all category for American-made interpretations of sour beers.
Jolly Pumpkin--This may be the best place to start. JP beers should be relatively inexpensive, easy to find, and less sour than the others on this list, making it an easier transition. Bam Biere and Oro de Calabaza would be great places to start.
New Belgium also makes a few in their lips of faith series. Many that I have tried have been great 'intro' beers due to less extreme sour and brett flavors than many other wild ales.
Bells Oarsman--This is most likely the cheapest and one of the easiest to find beers that I'll put on the list. It is a sour mash beer (read up on the sour mash process if you're not familiar), so it's got a good tartness, but I wouldn't consider it a sour/wild ale. I'm suggesting it because I think it's a great beer and also because it could be a cheap 'insurance' purchase because if you think this is too sour, then the rest of the stuff on this list (with the exception of possibly Jolly Pumpkin) isn't for you.
Flanders style beers: I don't have much experience with Oud Bruins, so I'm basically going to ignore those, so the following will be Flemish Reds.
Rodenbach: Both regular and grand cru versions are good.
Duchesse de Borgogne: I didn't like this one nearly as much, but this and Rodenbach are considered great examples of Flemish Reds and many people do like this one.
Petrus aged pale is a flanders style but not really an oude bruin or red, but it's another great relatively cheap option to start with.
Lambics/Geuze: These will be hardest to find, so you may want to start with a different category, but if you like the others then you definitely want to take the time to find some good lambics.
Cantillon--classic geuze is a great one to start with, but these can be super hard to find
Drie Fonteinen--Their geuze is also fantastic
You really can't go wrong with anything from either of the above.
Also, Lindemans Geuze Cuvee Rene will probably the cheapest legitimate entry in the style.
Be careful with fruit lambics. Those that come from Cantillon and Drie Fonteinen will be good, but many others on the shelf, including Lindemans and Timmermans will be artificially sweetened and not 'true' lambics. With many brands, 'oude' is put in the names of the true lambics.
It's been a while since I shopped beer in the twin cities, but the last time I was there I went to Zipp's liquors and it seems like a place that would have at least some of these.
My recommendations (most of this should make it to MN, but some may be hard to find):
American Wild Ales: Basically a catch-all category for American-made interpretations of sour beers.
Jolly Pumpkin--This may be the best place to start. JP beers should be relatively inexpensive, easy to find, and less sour than the others on this list, making it an easier transition. Bam Biere and Oro de Calabaza would be great places to start.
New Belgium also makes a few in their lips of faith series. Many that I have tried have been great 'intro' beers due to less extreme sour and brett flavors than many other wild ales.
Bells Oarsman--This is most likely the cheapest and one of the easiest to find beers that I'll put on the list. It is a sour mash beer (read up on the sour mash process if you're not familiar), so it's got a good tartness, but I wouldn't consider it a sour/wild ale. I'm suggesting it because I think it's a great beer and also because it could be a cheap 'insurance' purchase because if you think this is too sour, then the rest of the stuff on this list (with the exception of possibly Jolly Pumpkin) isn't for you.
Flanders style beers: I don't have much experience with Oud Bruins, so I'm basically going to ignore those, so the following will be Flemish Reds.
Rodenbach: Both regular and grand cru versions are good.
Duchesse de Borgogne: I didn't like this one nearly as much, but this and Rodenbach are considered great examples of Flemish Reds and many people do like this one.
Petrus aged pale is a flanders style but not really an oude bruin or red, but it's another great relatively cheap option to start with.
Lambics/Geuze: These will be hardest to find, so you may want to start with a different category, but if you like the others then you definitely want to take the time to find some good lambics.
Cantillon--classic geuze is a great one to start with, but these can be super hard to find
Drie Fonteinen--Their geuze is also fantastic
You really can't go wrong with anything from either of the above.
Also, Lindemans Geuze Cuvee Rene will probably the cheapest legitimate entry in the style.
Be careful with fruit lambics. Those that come from Cantillon and Drie Fonteinen will be good, but many others on the shelf, including Lindemans and Timmermans will be artificially sweetened and not 'true' lambics. With many brands, 'oude' is put in the names of the true lambics.
It's been a while since I shopped beer in the twin cities, but the last time I was there I went to Zipp's liquors and it seems like a place that would have at least some of these.
OP
OP
tdogg
Well-Known Member
awesome! thank you, this should be a good place to start. the only "sour" that i have tried is surly 5, which is a 100% brett fermented brown. i was told that it is not an accurate representation of most sour beers. it was VERY sour, and was not my favorite. but i want to try others!
