Sours: Help for Noobs

Crooked Stave isn't selling them for that much, I know that. So sounds like your liquor stores realize the "rarity" of them and are price gouging. When Prairie first made it to CO, liquor stores were selling 4 packs of Birra for 22.99$, normally 9.99$ a 4 pack. So I know how you feel.

 

No worries man, if it's not that exciting I plan to make a simple syrup with raspberries and add ~1-2 Tablespoons of it to each glass I have and have a fruited berliner weisse!

 

I have zero experience with sour beers. Can anyone provide some recommendations for a good starter?

 

I'm not a Sour guy but NG makes some great beers, loved the Cran Bic and Oude Bruin.

 

The New Glarus recommendation is a good one, although thy are more tart/sweet than they are sour.

 

Start with the Belgian classics:

Flanders Red - Rodenbach Grand Cru
Oude Bruin - Goudeband
Guezue - Cuvée Rene

Listed are widely available, relatively cheap examples of the style.

 

Things that should be at least somewhat obtainable in IL and that aren't crazy expensive:

Destihl Wild Sour series (especially Here Gose Nothin and Flanders Red)
New Glarus fruit beers (though they are more sweet than sour - Belgian Red, Raspberry Tart, Serendipity, and Strawberry Rhubarb)
New Glarus thumbprint sours (most recently Oud Bruin and Cran-bic)
Bockor Cuvee Des Jacobins Rouge
Duchesse de Bourgogne
New Belgium La Folie and Le Terroir
Petrus Aged Pale
Lindemans / Timmermans lambics
Rodenbach Grand Cru
Dogfish Head Festina Peche

Also, while they may not always be thought of as sours, some bretted saisons drink like sours, such as Saison Brett or aged Goose Island Sofie.

This isn't a comprehensive list but should be a reasonably good starting point.

 

Duchesse De Bourgogne- phenominal.

 

Mna that was my first sour. Given to me at a bar by a well meaning friend who wanted to introduce me. I didn't drink sours again for almost two years until I started with a Lambic, then moved on to Geueze. Now I love the Duchesse but our first meeting did not go well....

 

Also try reading the bjcp style guidelines. Just google that and youll find a PDF. It'll describe flavors you'll look for in traditional sour styles.

 

This was one of mine as well. Got me into sours.

 

My first run-in with a "Sour"

 

My first sour tonight. It is a Timmermans Kriek. Will I be turned off by trying this one first??

 

Not at all. You'll probably find it to be more tart than sour.

 

I'd be curious to hear from OP, @BeerDummy, who hasn't posted in the thread since its first day. Did you learn much from this thread? From other sources? Have you tried any sours? Tell us about your experience(s). Especially now that it's been 9 months (and your thread is going pretty strong) ...you could be a lambic afficianado by now!

 

So I am pretty new to sours......or at least trying to be. I've had maybe one or two that I kinda liked but most turn me off. I live in the MD/VA/DC distro, any recommended I would see through distribution or I should consider trading for? Looking for my gateway drug into sours haha. Constructive input is appreciated. So is the negative as long as they are .gif form

 

Gateways- (from my experience selling beer) Rodenbach Grand Cru or Duchesse for the flander's/flemish red brown style. 3 Fontenein Oude Gueze for Lambic. Both readily available across the U.S.- very accessible flavors and they should turn your palate enough to where you may even enjoy the other ones you didn't after appreciating these! Hope this helps!

 

Great post jive.

 

Boon Geuze. Drink it, enjoy it. Enough said...just trust me.