New to sours....Help me spend less.

DO NOT TRY ANY OF THE RUSSIAN RIVER SOURS...that was my mistake !!!!

 

why do i keep spending $11 on 375ml, why am I always tempted to supplicate when I consecrate?! I must have been beatified.

 

If you're into Brett characteristics, it's an awesome, affordable go-to. I wish I could find it around here so I could get a case or two.

 

I love Brett-y beers. Orval is top notch and I love some Saison-Brett. I'm even toying with brewing my own brett'ed saison. I just didn't particularly care for Rayon Vert. Not sure why, it just didn't do it for me. But hey, that's what makes beer so awesome!

 

I agree, I don't favor that beer at all.

 

I will echo some that others have mentioned, these are good and sour and give you bang for your buck.

Petrus Aged Pale 750 ML $7.99
Lindeman's Cuvee Rene 750 ML $9.99 (be prepared for a hefty dose of funk as well)
Rodenbach Grand Cru 750 ML $9.99
Liefmans Goudenband 750 ML $9.99

Hopefully you have someone to share these with. If you're the only one drinking, seek out some smaller versions (750 ML is a bit much, but I've done it on a couple occasions). People seem to like Duchesse De Bourgogne and Cuvee Des Jacobins which are decently priced (I'm not wild about either beer but you may like them considering you liked Monk's Cafe). You may also like the Petrus Oud Bruin, although I don't think it is as sour as the Aged Pale.

If you have access to any Berliner Weiss beers, you may want to explore that route. Not as sour as the Belgians, but some can be quite sour and most are very tart. It's a very light beer, really digging it in these hot summer months. Authentic German made Berliners are typically the best IMO, but you wont see them very often. Some suggestions:
Professor Fritz Briem 1809 Berliner Weiss, 1/2L $4.99 (the only "authentic" Berliner I commonly see, very tasty stuff!)
Bruery Hottenroth, 750 ML $7.99
Dogfish Festina Peche (seems like a love or hate beer, I happen to like it but it's just a bit tart)

 

I love the duchesse but in a 750ml bottle its been over $14 for a long time here. the 4 pack is usually about 15 to 17 bucks, priced itself out of me and my wife budget, sadly.

 

Whoa, that's about $6 too much! I will say, there are only a few places I can get it for ~$8/750 ml, elsewhere it's in the $12 range.

 

wow and usually our prices are not that bad, but about 2009 the Belgium prices at Totalwine went nuts, I know the euro was 1.45 plus then but still. If you can get that stuff for 8 bucks your lucky I would still pay 8 for it, and its funny I can get Saison Dupont for about 7 still.. go figure.

I think allot of it is turnover, I seen bottles of westmalle and Rochefort sit for months on the shelves. I used to mark the bottles with a colored marker and see how long they sat there, then I usually get a special occasion and buy out the rochefort.

 

I work in a lab and have seen this lying around before. I will tell of your intellect to the world. Your wisdom shall not be forgotten!

 

sour power six pack just dropped last week. 2 petrus aged pale, 2 monks cafe, 2 petrus oud bruin for twenty five bucks. smokin deal.

 

Food grade would be much more preferable than tech grade...

 

I thought so too. tasted scarily like Sanctification.

 

Homebrew

seriously, I don't know if you already brew or not, but it is fun no matter what style you brew, and it isn't too hard. You can brew any craft beer for at least half the cost. Sure once you include equipment you might be back to even. However, with sours I think you win on price all the time. I have brewed numerous sours, and the majority have turned out great. I have even been told some of my sours are better than well known and regarded commercial examples. Plus, they only cost me $0.50 a bottle usually (maybe up to $1 more if a lot of fruit is added). I am going to be bottling a brett pale ale in a couple weeks, I just sampled it yesterday and it is f***ing amazing, and only cost me $20 for 50ish bottles.

 

Any reading material you'd suggest on brewing sours? I've been homebrewing (extract -> BIAB) for a while and would like to give it a shot, but need to do some reading first.

 

this is the go to place online
http://www.themadfermentationist.com/

and this book, though not specifically about brewing does have some good brewing info, including simple recipes
http://www.amazon.com/Wild-Brews-Culture-Craftsmanship-Tradition/dp/0937381861

personally, when brewing sours I like to keep the recipe fairly simple. Something like 75% pilsner 25% wheat and noble hops for bittering, maybe 0.75oz bittering, and 0.75 in last 30 to 20min. I have also had great result using dregs from my favorite sours (JP, RR, LA, Cantillon, etc). Another option is brew a style you think would benefit from souring, I have done things like American wheat ales and Quads, brew them how you normally would and then add a small culture during the primary. If you feel it is not progressing the way you want you can add more dregs later on.

 

Unfortunately I don't work in a food lab, and most likely wouldn't trust the safety of consuming anything in here. :-(

 

how strange just got back for total wine with this same combo. friggin duchess was 18 a 4 pack too much for me.
so I bought 3 $7.50 750 dupont's siasons, lol. crazy huh, just sometimes I can spend it and some days I cannot see it. I do want it all though sadly, just need to hit the right 6 numbers....

 

but how do you brew wild with out the wild part? lol. I hear you though I will buy that book and try my hand at 1. cheers!

 

when fresh batches of RR hit the shelves i end up spending WAAAAAAAAAAAAYYYYY to much money on beer. totally worth it though.