Good Intro Sours?

The Anderson Valley 128 is a good starter.... try any of those mentioned above, then end with Cuvee des Jacobins Rouge.

 

Berliner is def. a better intro sour,i agree

 

New Glarus beers are fruit beers not sours/wilds. Very sweet no real sour or puckering or funk.

 

It is my understanding that they all use a base sour brown or sour blonde beer produced with wild yeast in their "wild fruit cave" using their coolship. So, yeah I think they are "sours" they are just heavily fruited. Anyway, I think for a gateway into sours they would fit the bill.

 

This is a tough question, partially because "sour" encompasses a wide range of styles, any of which may or may not tickle your palate's fancy, and partially because my weird palate has loved every sour beer I've tried, starting with Duchesse.

I'd agree that, if you want an introduction to tart with minimal funk and quite possibly a complement of fruit, American-brewed goses and Berliner weisses are a good bet. There's enough weirdness out there now like Blood Orange Gose, Briney Melon, Passion Fruit Prussia, and so forth that can provide a little bridge from fruit beer to at least part of the vast territory that is "sour".

If you're a fan of beers that drink rather dry, Crooked Stave has a couple rather tart provision saisons that seem approachable (at least to me) in their Vielle and Surette. If even those are too much, just Belgian beer styles in general can help pave the way towards sour beers - St. Bernardus Wit or BFM La Salamandre pretty much sit right at the border between witbier and sour, for example. If you don't like the light acoustic performance of yeasty-estery funk in "standard" Belgian beers, you're probably not going to like it when it's handed electric guitars on an amp cranked up to eleven and given backup vocalists.

 

Rodenbach - All varietals
Destihl - St. Dekkera Series
Road Trip to Wisconsin for New Glarus
Off Color - Fierce (Berliner Weiss)

 

Rodenbach grand cru

 

Vanderghinste and Monk's Cafe are good options. Mild, balanced, readily available and reasonably priced. New Holland Blue Sunday Sour is solid. Also, since you're a fan of IPA's New Belgium Le Terrior would be a great choice as a hoppy sour ale. Destihl, in Bloomington, IL also makes a wild sour series in cans. Not sure if they are available in Chicago area or not. If I were you, I would seek out a variety of styles including Lambic, Gueuze, Gose, Flanders Red and Oud Bruin to see which style you may enjoy.

 

I was going to mention Le Terroir also. I'd guess hopped sours in general would be a little friendlier to novices? (Have a bottle of Funky Gold Amarillo waiting for me to try).

 

GI sisters

 

Duchesse was the first one I tasted, and it scared me off Flanders Reds for awhile. Cuvee Des Jacobins Rouge rectified that.

 

Athena

 

If you can get your hands on anything from J. Wakefield Brewing, do it. Best sours in the game.

 

I gotta disagree with this one here. The first sour I ever had was a Geueze by Lagunitas, funny enough, and I loved it! My second was Duchesse and I thought it was absolutely horrific. I still do. If your trying to get into Sours I think it's best to stay away from Acedic Acid, unless the notion of drinking vinegar is appealing.

 

couldnt say that about Duchesse better myself

 

Westbrook Gose

 

New Belgium's Eric's Ale is pretty mellow on the sourness front. More so than Le Terroir or La Folie. Quite good, though.

 

Apparently Bourbon County Coffee and Barleywine are sours now.

 

Monks cafe Flemish sour or rodenbach grand cru

 

Kasteel Rouge & Rodenbach Grand Cru - nice entry level stuff, wonderful beers. I also love Duchesse De Bourgogne, although many folks do not, you've got to be down with vinegar if you're going to try that one - it's almost like drinking a glass of salad dressing.