Sour Prices

Usually the acid cones from bacteria, lactobacillus in most, and also pedio in Lambics. Brett can produce acid under the right conditions. Read "Wild Brews" by Jeff Sparrow to learn more.

OP - As to why they cost more- you need a barrel program, a place to store the barrels, personnel costs for cleaning filling and moving barrels, a set of equipment dedicated to sour beers so you don't infect you regular product,and so on. Inventory in tied up for years before sale. One also has to dump off flavor barrels or even batches that go wrong.

 

The monetary value of "quality" is relative.

 

Disagree, divorce is easy to get, I got two,sours are harder to get.

 

Brewery Vivant Tart Side of the Moon...do I hear the four horsemen?

 

As others have mentioned, sours cost a lot because they take a long time to make. 9-18 months of storage is a long time. Time is money. Barrell maintenance costs money. Barrels cost money.

You can make 5 gallons at home for $35 dollars. That is roughly (24) bombers for less than you would pay for two bombers of highly rated commercial sour beer. It isn't difficult. The yeast and bacteria do all the hard work. All you have to do is wait and be patient and you will be pleasantly surprised how good your home brewed sour can taste.

 

Because of the labor of love and time it takes to produce them.

 

So true my friend, if you like yellow fizzy water (macro-lager), sour must taste horrible. But if it's worth it to you, then it's worth it.

 

Homebrewing, in the long run, is always cheaper than buying professionally made beers and most people who aren't into homebrewing either don't have the time and patience or room or X other reasons to do so.

 

Lots of beer in the price range between Coors Light and Love Child No. 3.

 

Again, so true.

 

And a lot of the expensive sours aren't worth the mark up IMO. Red poppy isn't worth the price IMO.

 

I call BS on this 87% of the time.

People don't have 8 free hours a year? Get off the internet for a week or two days. Problem solved.

Patience? Immediate gratification is nice, but very good things come to those who are willing to wait.

Room? My ass. 99% of people on this site have a kitchen and three cubic feet to store a pot and a bucket.

X reasons? Hogwash!

 

I agree Red Poppy isn't worth the price. $16 for 375ml is very pricey and certainly overpriced for what it is. However, it is a very good example of an American Flanders when you don't consider what it costs.

Rodenbach Vintage is $10 for the same amount and is every bit as tasty, but slightly different and maybe even slightly better depending on your taste.

Lost Abbey doesn't care because they have no problem selling all the Red Poppy they make at a premium price. It disappeared from my area in less than a month.

 

The bottle is quite attractive

 

Rodenbach Vintage is one of the better sours out there - sad that it is pasteurized.

 

cost of goods sold and supply and demand

 

Unfortunately, sometimes you pay for shit too. Despite great reviews, sometimes your taste simply may not be reflected. So you end up buying something with great anticipation only to be deeply disappointed. With sours, it's particularly true, since there are multiple varieties and interpretations and some people swear by beers that others detest.

 

I love that beer and don't mind how they achieve such a great flavor. Since it's pasteurized, it won't continue to evolve much. That's ok with me because I'm ready to drink the 2010 Vintage they sell today right now! It did seem slightly back sweetened, but not overdone like Lindemans, etc.

 

Pasteurizing in theory shouldn’t influence the flavour so unpasteurized it should taste just the same.
It is unfortunate I feel because the old Rodenbach bottles have aged incredibly & Rodenbach used to age really well. Rodenbach vintage is easy to get, good price, if it was unpastuerized you could buy a bunch of them and drink easily stuff on par with the very best whales much cheaper. Rodenbach Vin de Cereal drinks incredibly still. Unpasteurized you would still be getting the 2010 but it would just taste better.

Lindemans you mean the cuvee? The regular is basically a soda - no relationship with lambic taste-wise.

 

I just meant the assumed back sweetening of Vintage was no where near the sweetness level of Lindemans "regular" and I'm aware the fruity Lindemans are not proper examples of Lambic and Rodenbach Vintage isn't a Lambic.

I need to try Caractère Rouge, but it requires a $$$ shipment from Belgium. How does it compare with Vintage?