Last week I discovered Cuvee des Jacobins Rouge, this week Duchesse de Bourgogne.... and I need more!!! I don't know what it is about these Flanders Reds, but I cant seem to get enough. I'm feeling like an addict of some sorts. I cant stop sniffing the empty bottles, and I find myself wishing I had a tongue like Gene Simmons so I can like my tulip clean. What did I get myself into?
Welcome to the Dark Side (we have cookies) As you ease your way into sours (especially sour reds), work your way into a Rodenbach Grand Cru then some nice gueuze beers. Also, if you are in Illinois, if you can sneak over the border into Wisconsin, snatch up some New Glarus.
And I thought from the subject line that this was going to be about your girlfriend complaining about some "personal activities" afterwards. Eat some pineapple. If you don't yet know what I am talking about, then keep drinking those sours and let us know what your significant other has to say about it. The way that sours pass through the human body is probably the most significant reason that it has never become a serious habit for me.
I somehow managed to not drink a gueuze for my first ~3 years delving into beer as a serious preoccupation. My advice? Hold out as long as you can.
Ah, the Duchesse. My gateway to Flanders Reds/Sours/Wild Ales/Gueuze. Wild Ales/Sours are now one of my 3 favourite beer styles with IPAs and Stouts. It's definitely an acquired taste, but once you acquire it you really appreciate the beers. Maybe try some Liefman's, like the Goudenband and Cuvee Brut? Bellegems Bruin is another nice one to try. And there are a good amount of US made Wild Ales that are quality. I recently had 3 from Allagash at a Beerfest in South Jersey: FV13, Golden Brett and Midnight Brett. Damn, were they all delicious and the standouts of the event, IMO. Talking to the rep, they are supposed to bottle the latter 2 in 375s. Fingers crossed that they will and ship enough to NJ that I can get a case at my store and get a bottle of each to savour.
Now you'll never have to wonder what beer to kick off a session. Even if your passion cools and you do, y'know, occasionally drink other stuff, they remain the ultimate starter because the tartness opens you up for all the other flavors. Add Ichtegem to the list but not at the expense of the others.
Yeah, just wait until the OP finds out that he can order Cascade sours online, directly from the brewer.
I was the same way as you for like a couple of weeks, but then it just kinda balanced back out again. If you think about it, you were probably the same way about IPAs or RISs (or whatever in craft beer that you really love), and eventually it calmed down to a more manageable point. For me, I find that they're great every now and then (esp to "reset" my palate), but I'm not "addicted" like I was initially.
