Sour Suggestion(s)

Duchess des Bourgogne or Cuvee des Jacobins Rouge are the two that made me "get it"

 

Russian River Consecreation. Or something lighter, Sour in the Rye (The Bruery). Oude Tart also works. Try Berliner Weisses if you're tentative and work up from there.

 

Ithaca beer Company Le Bleu and Squatter's Fifth Elemet are the only two I have had and they were each fantastic and made me want more. If you are averse to the brett, musty or barnyard smell then don't bother. They are sour. . . hence the name. It's the difference between the people who like the sweet watermelon jolly rancher candy or the people who like the sour balls or the sour warheads. Sour beers cause puckering. So delicious.

 

Here is a thread that I posted about a year ago. It will have all the basic answers you need. I would try Cuvee Renee and Petrus Aged Pale. Both are readily available and pretty affordable for sours at least.

http://beeradvocate.com/community/threads/suggestions-for-sours.30010/

 

Supplication was my first. Love at first taste.

 

Rodenbach Grand Cru!!!!!

Cheap and tasty (and readily available)!

 

for one, stay away from sours. They are by far the most addicting and most expensive style.

Second, they just may not be your thing, don't feel then need to force just because everyone else is doing it.

Third, it can also take some time to come around. For me, I feel in love with sours after my first taste, Duchess des Bourgogne, now I cannot drink that beer because it taste too sweet to me. I have friends who hated sours, then after trying them 3 to 5 different times, they came around. Now they cannot get enough.

Which Jolly Pumpkin beers did you try? I recommend La Roja and Biere de Mars from them. Otherwise, I second a lot of the other inputs of Rodenbach Grand Cru (or classic) and Cuvee de Jacobins (my favorite for the style). If you are feeling more adventerous you can try Lindemans Cuvee de Rene. Also, Belriner Weiss is another great spot to start. You should be able to find Professor Fritz 1809 and Bell's Oarsman.

 

I am new to craft beer so I don't know too much. However, I did just try New Glarus Brewing Berliner Weiss (part of their thumb print series) and enjoyed it a great deal.

 

Make sure you've let them warm up before drinking ... imo.

 

Agree with the above--Russian River sours are amazing, but a Berliner Weiss is an easy, approachable way into sours. I think the first "sour" beer I had was the Professor Fritz Briem Berliner Weisse, (I'm not even sure I knew a beer could be sour until I tried that one accidentally!) Bonus for the style is that it's awesome on these sweltering summer days, and often very low (~3%) ABV with a lot of flavor. I had great ones from Westbrook and Hopfenstark a couple weeks ago at a beer fest (not sure of distribution), and drank The Tap Intergalactic Acid all weekend. Luckily it's a style seeing a big burst of popularity suddenly, so you should be able to find some.

 

Try Jolly Pumpkin La Roja.

 

In my experience, the sour education track goes:

DFH festina peche-->rodenbach grand cru-->Russian river supplication-->plane tix to HF-->plane tix to Belgium-->selling your body on some back alley in Brussels just to afford your next loon fix

Yup, that's about how I see it panning out

 

My first and to this day the one I hold all others to was a Abbaye De Bon Chien I had at EBF a few years ago. Pretty tart, but since I like sour stuff like that (the few candy I eat is sour patch kids) it was exactly there.
My advice, though, is to not force it. Don't think you HAVE to get into sours. Your palate will tell you when it wants to and not before.
I would go with good ones, That Petrus is a top shelf Flanders, as is the Duchesse.
Geuzes I like the Tilquin and 3 Fontanian (spelling...) lambics.... there's a lot.
there are plenty of choices, with "sour levels" ranging from barely there to mouth puckering. Take your time, again, don't force it, and one will (probably) come to you.

 

/thread

P.S. You are permitted to dislike sours.

 

Yeah, these recommendations are pretty good. Go with what you can find and what is cheap. Jacobin, Rodenbach, etc.

Something like Consecration or Supplication are big and complex. Also being hard to find and expensive does not help. Move up to those if you like the style.

 

Rodenbach is a standard choice for me. But one of my favorites is New Jersey's Cricket Hill Oud Bruin Burbon Barrel Aged Sour Porter http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/1344/78856
Unfortunately it was a limited release and likely no longer available. For me it perfectly married their burbon barrel porter with sour and produced a terrific combination that was a joy to drink when it was available.

 

This http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/187/6104.

Its cheap, widely available, and totally delicious. For my money it is just as good as some of basic Cantillon beers but you can actually find it and afford it.

 

Temptation, Temptation, Temptation.....

 

La Folie is a great starter sour. People who say Cuvee Rene are a little off for a starter. That is very ammoniated. Great starter sours are also Jacobins Rouge, Supplication (harder to find east of Colorado, unless you live in Philly). Probably La Folie and Jacobins Rouge if Petrus was tough for you to drink.