First sour?

Agreed! Great sours that are approachable, and there is variety available within their line up. Petrus aged pale, and cuvee rene are also great starters. I found monks cafe, dutchess de burrgone(sp?) and rodenboch, all to have a bit of a balsamic vinegar quality to me, which was off-putting when I first got into sours.

 

Supplication started my love affair with sours and is still one of my absolute favorites.

 

Had trinity brewing's ten minutes of pleasure again this weekend, it's so damned good. You'll have to trade for it though I'm afraid.

 

I would say start with some saisons. That's, at least, how I got started. From there I quickly went at all types of "sours". Maybe try the duchesse de Bourgogne its a dash on the sweeter side.

 

Don't believe they have been mentioned but Liefmans Goudenband and Cuvee-Brut are also worth trying as well.

 

Fond Tradition Geuze

 

New Glarus Enigma and it's still my favorite!

 

I'll throw it out there, but I don't think anyone mentioned Bell's Oarsman, should be readily available in NC and eminently crushable.

 

Agreed. Start out mellow then build up to full vinegar with lemon juice

 

The first sour I tried was Monks Cafe Flanders Red. I enoyed it, that's what got me into sours.

 

mine was la folie
pretty sour for my first one

 

First one I ever had was Bell's Oarsman and I wasn't a huge fan. Then I tried Cuvee Des Jacobins Rouge and fell in love.

Troegs - Splinter Brown might be my favorite though

 

I think a great place to start is with one of the Goose Island sisters. Gillian, Halia, Lolita, Juliet, Madame Rose. They're pretty mildly sour and there are some great variations between them, plus they're probably available wherever you are.

 

I'd say if you want to drive down the road, Supplication and if you want to kick tires Peekskill Simple Sour and if you want go all the way Boon Marriage Parfait

 

Rodenbach Grand Cru was my first sour too. Once I had it, I decided to trade for a bottle of Russian River Supplication.

After that, I was done for.

 

Go after the good shit and you wont have to worry about undesirable flavors. Choose something from Cantillion, Russian River, or Brouwerij Drie Fonteinen. All three of the breweries have easy to get shelf beers that are world class!

 

Don't do what I did when I tried my first sour. Tried downing an entire 750ml bottle of Oude Geueze by myself. Almost succeeded before my mouth turned inside out.

 

AGREED!

 

First sour I ever had was La Folie. At the time I had no idea what a sour was and wasn't too keen on them. Looking back La Folie is amazing and I could drink this lovely beer all the time.

 

As much as I love this beer, I would have to disagree with it as an intro to sours. Flanders Reds can be tough to like at first. They have a peculiar, very distinct flavor profile that is so complex that it can be off-putting if one has never had sours before.

I would vote for Petrus Aged Pale or Lindeman's Cuvee Rene