Favorite Sours

Weirdly, Belle Vue is one of the best Lambics I've ever had. Unblended, straight from a foeder. Amazing stuff. And, sadly, not usually available. Only at the Opstal Lambic festival.

 

No mention of Casey and 3 pages in? WTF is going on in here?!

 

I'm a big fan of the easily available shelf sours like DFH Sea Quench, Founders Green Zebra, SN Wild Little Thing...

 

in June, Vista Brewing is releasing a beer that they spontaneously fermented with naturally occurring yeast in freshly dumped wine barrels from a neighboring winery. It's been aging for over a year in those barrels.

 

Sante Adairius - Bernice / Hoeybier
Cantillon - Lou Pepe Gueuze
Cellador - Slide Down my Cellar Door / Chapeaux
3 Fonteinen - Oude Kriek
De Garde - Beaucoup Desay
Hill Farmstead - Anna

I want to try more Homage, Mills, Antidoot, Hudson Valley, Side Project, Funk Factory, Yeast of Eden, Floodland...

 

No surprise Russian River tops my list with Supplecation (wild ale) but I've had some very good luck with Fieldwork out of Berkeley, CA. Their parfaits and sours have been very nice. Also ran into a sour IPA from Hoof Hearted called Quit Yer Fussin' On Me. The Kriek (Batch #6) from de Garde was amazing!

 

You might want to hop on the Funk Factory train sooner then later. Rumor is they might not be around much longer...

 

I'm going to take a left turn in conversation, recommending to those that like sours to try hard kombucha. They often use similar strains of both yeast and bacteria, and often have fruit additions just as Belgian sours.

 

I like some (and definitely not some) already mentioned in this thread, but surprised the following haven't been mentioned?

Tilquin - While not as hyped as Cantillon and 3F, this relatively easy to find gueuzerie is crazy underrated. And I like some of their stuff more than Cantillon.

American Solera - Offshoot of Prairie Artisan Ales. Every beer I've had from them was absolutely on-point in balance. We get once a year drops from them during SF Beer Week. I look forward to it every time.

Other good ones but not quite as good as others mentioned are Libertine and Casa Agria Specialty Ales.

 

Asking for a favorite of any style is like asking an old man (ahem, cough, cough - me) what his favorite song is. It depends on the mood & company. But that being said, I have a 6 pack of TrimTab Paradise in the fridge. It’s a very nice Raspberry Berliner Weisse I’m a bit fond of from a local brewery.

 

I don’t have a favorite but ones that stand out of memory are Founders Green Zebra and Ommegang Pale Sour.

i prefer very light and simple sour beers

 

I've tried some good sours, but for me the majority are dry and flavorless. Aside from lactic sourness I find little going on to yield another dimension or flavor to the beer. That said, I don't care much for most lambics (too sweet), I still love Oud Bruin which is still mostly a brown ale after all. Here: https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/223/699/

My favorite sours personally have been in blends like The Bruery fruity sour/stout combos.
Such as this gem: https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/16866/346373/
Anyway my goal here is not to trash sours (I'm probably not sophistocated enough for them) but instead to point out some interesting and more oddball varieties/blends. Most recently I've decided that a large majority of desert stouts are too rich and sweet for by blood, but their bastard cousins the desert sours - now some of those have blown me away. They are not at all what I (most probably) would think of as a sour, but Drekker makes these sweet and thick desert sours if you haven't seen them, and while they don't even classify as beer anymore to me - I would be lying through my teeth if I called them anything but wonderful ambrosia of the gods.
Here's a couple I might trade a family member off (more distant) to drink again:
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/37051/458981/
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/37051/473153/

 

This is THE THREAD to follow if you love this style of beer.

And to that end, truer words are rarely spoken in craft beer threads and social-groups then the bold quote below from @SierraNevallagash

With all the hype in the craft beer world (NEIPAs, milkshake-fake-sours, etc) I firmly believe many - if not all - of the breweries mentioned in this thread are the ones truly crafting exceptional beer.

When I travel, I have zero interest in loading up on three dozen NEIPA single cans from the latest “it” brewery. I’d take a mere dozen bottles from any of the breweries mentioned throughout.

These breweries are pushing out beers that take time and patience to create. The ingredients are all natural. And the supplies are very often limited.

These beers age well - which to me, is so much of the appeal.

Ive tried many of the breweries named throughout this thread, but the one - and only one - that I have easy access to is Jester King. They don’t make a bad beer IMO, but if you have the chance, their 500ml genie bottles (which are barrel-aged fruits) are SPECTACULAR. There truly isnt a bad one. But being spoiled, I’d say my favor is Omniscience & Prosyshdkciamfonr (“O&P” for short). Its their strawberry fruit and the smell is world-class. It smells like sticking your face in a strawberry patch. Flavor follows smell flawlessly. Jester King also have a SPON series, which is their attempt at brewing in the same process as Cantillon or 3F. SPON does not disappoint at all.

 

Proselytism*

 

https://untappd.com/b/evil-twin-brewing-nyc-et-stay-home-blueberry-raspberry/3750936

I don't really know what to say other than no one I know of has ever made a better sour IPA. This is legit one of the Top 3 beers I've ever been near. @Justonemore91 is a boss but the Evil Twin sour was even better than the Hudson Valley x Root Branch sour. I'm fairly convinced Root+Branch makes the best NEIPAS on the East coast. Treehouse and Finback don't play but Root+Branch have perfected the style.

 

Fixed that for me (FTFM). Thanks friend!

 

I’m not sure that I’ve ever had a true “sour”. I had a Cantillion in my possession once, and I gave it away to a beer friend. We used to get Crooked Stave, no idea if we still do, Fonta Flora makes great beers. They’re just really expensive, but I do drink apple cider vinegar and I love the stuff, does that kinda count? It starts life like a Belgian Beer, it’s got funk and bacteria in it.

 

Glad you enjoyed it. Though number two was not as good as number one, They're releasing the third edition this Friday. Hoping it blows me away like number one did. Cheers my friend

 

That was without a doubt a world class beer and I'm not surprised the subsequent versions aren't as good. OH even has a beer called "Batch #1 was better" or something similar.

I was browsing online trying to grab some more of the original batch if possible and people are trying to get $30 a can on secondary.. I'll stay sober before paying that; price gougers irritate the hell out of me. I've got a collection of my favorite empties on display and Et Stay Home is right in the center.

Be safe and enjoy all the great brew!

 

Kettle soured stuff is a little too aggro for my tastes, but I love a good wild and/or foeder aged saison (I guess not technically a sour). Crooked Stave Surette and Jackie O’s Elle were my most recent indulgences.

Usually if I want something zippy and tart, I’ll look more in the direction of white wines, particularly NZ sauvignon blanc, Vinho verde, maybe a grüner.