Sours: Help for Noobs

No, not at all. A better analogy would be someone who wants to try good IPAs and Pliny is brought up. The OP wants sours so that's what others are recommending, move along.

Like every thread on this forum it's gonna come down to personal palates and favorites so my advice is try a bunch and decide your favorite, not listen to every know it all here.

 

Point in case, busted out Duchesse on Father's Day for some casual drinkers, 3 out 4 loved it and wrote its name down, it's personal preference so I don't under the "never a good choice" comment when it's been mentioned here by several other posters.

 

Just realized I forgot Rodenbach, and all it's variants. Excellent beers, and amazing prices.

 

I love the comments that only try to make other people look bad without answering the OP or adding to the conversation.

tmbgnicu, I'm drinking Cuvee Rene right now, and would recommend it as a place to start (like others have said it's got wide distro, inexpensive for the style, and available in a 375ml, good to save some dough and/or if you don't want to spend a bunch on a style you are worried you may not like)

 

The first sour beers I drank were Goose Island Lolita, and Juliet. They aren't cheap, but they also don't have any of the funky tastes some of the others have. For someone trying to get started into sours, this could be a good place to start if you have them available.

 

Others have mentioned great sour beers to start with, and I'd have to recommend a few that were already mentioned once you decide you like (Cuvee de Jacobins for sure, Rodenbach, etc) but the easiest to me, and what initially turned me on before I even knew what I was drinking were the Lindemann's offerings..Kriek (cherry), Cassis (currant), Peche (peach), etc. They're semi affordable, taste like tart liquid Jolly Ranchers, and are readily available.

People seem to scoff at them here at Beeradvocate, but, hey man, drink what tastes good. I love them. 'Cheap' and tart, and something different when you're first starting out.

 

Fuzzy

 

When I started out, I thought temptation by Russian River was great. I didn't enjoy Supplication when I first attempted it.

 

Word of caution, while Rodenbach, Duchess, widely available Boon's products and Monk's Cafe have a faint twinge of tartness, they're predominantly sweet beers. If you want to try something easy to find with a bit of pucker to it, try Cuvée Des Jacobins Rouge and La Folie, as others have suggested.

The first sour I ever tried was Cascade Kriek which I loved because it was so intensely puckering, and then was extremely disappointed that most of the off-the-shelf 'sour beers' various articles and clerks recommended weren't actually sour at all.

 

Both Cuvee-Brut and Goudenband from Liefmans would be a good starting point.

I would also echo those that have suggested Duchesse de Bourgogne and Rodenbach (both the original and Grand Cru). None of these beers are insanely sour (or expensive) like a lot of the American-made sours, so they'd be a good litmus test in regards to how well you might enjoy sours.

True Belgian sours aren't going to seem all that sour when you jump straight into super-sour American wild ales. They practice a bit of subtlety, whereas most American sours are anything but. That's not to say that I don't like them at this point, but considering I found Cuvee Rene too sour for my tastes when I first tried it, super-sour beers might not be a great choice for a beginner.

 

Cuvée Des Jacobins Rouge and the beers produced by Cantillon, Hanssens, 3 Fonteinen, etc. are all 'true Belgians' with intense flavors...

Just adding my two cents because when starting out I was disappointed by 'sour beers' that I found to taste like salad dressing or be syrup bombs (ie: a waste of money because of what I was after).

 

I didn't find Cantillon's Kriek nor 3F Oude Gueze to be all that intense when compared to something from -- say -- The Bruery.

 

This comes down to personal palette then. I agree that some of the Belgians have more complexity (a wider range of big flavors), but Cantillon Kriek is at least as sour and much funkier than The Bruery's kriek, Sans Paigae, and Rueze has a fraction of the funk and is downright aqueous compared to 3F OG. So if you factor in yeast character in addition to straight up lactic/acetic sourness, I'd say they're more intense.

 

I have friends and cohorts that love sours, others that hate them. The question becomes what beer would you use to introduce someone to sours?

I think because of ease of availability and general quality something like:

Rodenbach Grand-Cru
Duchesse De Bourgogne
or Cuvee Des Jacobins Rouge

 

tha dutchesse is always a great option, also not too intense where it may turn some away. just my 2 cents

 

Lindemans Cuvée Rene. Minimal funk. Quite sour. Very crushable.

 

I'm inclined to agree with that one. There's something about it that I'm not so crazy about- the sweetness seems added on, and not really integral to the beer- however, that would be the thing to serve as a helping hand to those unfamiliar with sours in general.

Prof Fritz BW would be another good suggestion.

 

I tried the Lost Nation Gose on tap the other week. Not too ridiculous but very very good if you can get ahold of it, my roommate who's a big hop head almost spit it out at the bar though!

 

The one that opened the door for me was Monk's Cafe Flemish Sour Ale. Mildly sour and quite delicious.

http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/48/10482/

 

Inexpensive and simple if you live in the region.