Sour Beer Trending UP

They're not bad, they're just not great. I think I could maybe call Sour in the Rye great. But if you're spending all that money on their beers I can see how you may need some consolation.

 

Really? I think Oude Tart is better than Rodenbach GC. To each his own I guess.

 

I do have to say my favorite sour is Rodenbach Grand Cru. I get them by the table bottle and they still seem to disappear too fast. On a totally different note I've learned that people either love or hate sours. I dont run across too many people that are in between.

 

I've had at least one and I liked it.
http://wobusa.com/
Too bad I don't remember what it was.

 

Alpine Brewery's recently released 'Chez Monus', a peach-apricot sour, is excellent, though hard to get.

 

Once you progress into the world of sours, you've pretty much reached the pinnacle of being a world class beer nerd. Just saying...

 

I will get into sours more, but not because it's trendy, but because they taste good. Trends happen, then they fade. If you like sours, drink them, if not then drink something else. I think getting too caught up in trends is what is wrong with American society, we are too quick to jump on the bandwagon and become a sheep, IMO.

 

That was why I made my original statement. I think of all styles, sours are probably the hardest to get right. Or maybe a better term is delicious. There is a lot of experimentation going on that doesn't necessarily churn out great results. If a beer is too lactic or acetic it affects enjoyability. If it's not sour enough then it at least needs a super base flavor to where the extra tartness is just a plus. And then complexity comes into play. Americans still have work to do in that department. I'm not a fan of one note, two note beers. That's why stuff like Cantillon, Drie Fonteinen, and Rodenbach boggle me. They're so complex. I'm really excited that we are producing more sours and in turn competition in that department is going to get stiff. Meaning you better make a good product or your sales are going to suffer. Newbies like Almanac, Sante Adairius, Crooked Stave, Anchorage, Prairie and others are doing great things. Then you have the fresh out of the gate start ups like Rare Barrel and Side Project that will just add to that and it's a pretty exciting time for sour/wild ale production in the United States.

 

If you mean pitching cultures of brewers yeast, wild yeast, and bacteria then "all" is negated in the US by a few that do spontaneous fermentation. Allagash installed a coolship to do spontaneous fermentation, and there are others doing that. Here is a picture.

 

Sours go well with fatty foods and sweet things, that's probably why they recommend pairing it with BBQ. I was reading my Brewmaster's Table book the other day and Oliver was talking about how well gueuzes go with Mexican food. Guess you have to try it to see.

 

I've never tried a sour. In fact, I can't name one example of the style.

I must be an unsophisticated beer peasant.

 

And just as with IPAs, breweries will start cranking out a shit-ton of mediocre sours to jump on the bandwagon, and the mindless beer-drinking masses will eat them up.

 

Indeed.

 

“I still feel that the Berlinerweiss trend is going to get us next …” I am a big fan of Berliner Weisse. I am fortunate that a number of local brewpubs (Nodding Head, Tired Hands, Two Round Guys, Barren Hill Tavern & Brewery, …) make excellent Berliner Weisse beers. I would imagine that this is a challenging beer style to produce consistent product. I have doubts that this beer style will be a big trend since it is a low alcohol beer but I suppose we will have to wait and see.

“In fact there's been a few less noticeable trends that just sort of fizzled and popped without much notice (IPLs, Saisons, Tripels) …” I personally would not characterize Saisons and IPLs as “fizzled” just yet. There seems to be a fair amount of production Saison beers out there (several versions from Stillwater, Goose Island, Boulevard, …) and it would not surprise me if more production breweries produce this style of beer. Even Victory is making a nice drinking seasonal Saison called Swing. I am still waiting to see what happens with the IPL style. The fact that Sam Adams makes Double Agent is an indicator this may be a style which may grow. IPLs seem to be the main beers that Jack’s Abby produces. Even a small regional brewery near me (Straub) made a tasty IPL as a specialty brew: Straub IPL (a catchy name, eh?).

I personally have not seen too many production Tripels being made so I am uncertain whether I would consider that beer being a “trend”.

Cheers!

P.S. Robert I did not take note that you are from PA until I posted the above. You may be familiar with several of the beers I referenced.

 

but how do they compare against beers that have been made in such a manner for 500 years in a specific region? Have you tried them put them against say a Cantillon which has been made in the same area which has been making those type beers for hundreds of years? Sounds like its a new process from the site. Perhaps my statement was slightly incorrect, however it by no means proves that the process works anywhere...

 

Jon-Pierre van Roy stated he thought it could be done anywhere when talking to him on a visit. Spontaneous fermentation will work, I agree that some of the resident micro flora will vary, which will make the product different. I have had a few that were done with spontaneous fermentation in the US, and those were good for first efforts (JP and RR).

Cantillon was founded in 1900.

 

We just called them an ‘acquired taste’. Unless of course you are like me and had one (La Folie, then Star of the North) and went insane over them. I fell in love at first taste. Then again, I have always loved sour things. I'm on a quest to try as many as possible now. They are so unique and usually quite surprising!

 

Madame Rose is better imo. I'd like to try the 2010 vintage Rodenbachs again side by side to compare...

 

Coastal Carolina BBQ finishing sauce is apple cider vinegar based. Been that way for a couple hundred years. Sour, smoke, and spice are OK.

 

I had a Monk's Cafe a few months ago as my first sour and It might have been fairly old, (I don't know how these age, haven't looked into sours much) but it was not very good and completely steered me away from sours. We got a case of Cuvee de Jacobins last week and I thought I'd give it another try...Wow that beer was amazing.