Good Intro Sours?

Not true. It disapoints

 

In addition to the sour beers you ultimately get, I'd suggest you also get some cheeses to pair with the beers. The cheeses don't have to be too fancy; pick up the types of cheeses you can get at Costco, such as Gruyere, Emmentaler, Havarti, different Cheddars, etc.

Sour beer is one thing on the palate, while sour beer with cheese can be a whole other experience. Plus, the cheese will clear the palate of the sour beer between each bite, giving you a "clean palate" going into each bite/pairing.

I just did a sour beer tasting this past Saturday night, and having cheeses was a definite benefit for most people's experience.

 

2015ers gonna 2015.

 

Rodenbach
Anderson Valley Kimmie The Yink Holy Gose
Festina Peche

You're in Illinois so Off Color is a brewery I'm falling in love with for their styles of beer. Berliners, Gose, just a lot of subtle beautiful tart beers rolling out of there.

 

Sixpoint Jammer - super mild in respect to both the sour and the salt when trying to get into the gose style. Good to get your feet wet with but you immediatley want something more representative of the style.

 

Creature Comforts makes anything amazing.

 

In my opinion the best intro sours are Lindemans or Almanac anything.

Lindeman is great for showing people what a sour/fruited beer tastes like without getting too complex, just a fruity puckering taste which gives someone who has never tried a sour an example of the difference between sours and other beer.

Almanac is great for people who are just starting to enjoy sours, give a sour newbie a Valley of the Hearts delight and they will light up, haha.

 

Lots of good ones.
For me it was Lindeman's followed by Boon, the Duchesse, and the original releases of Eric's Ale and La Folie (mid 2000's).
It took me a long time before I really "got" beers like Cantillon and 3F. These days I'm not sure that would be the case. Between 100+ IBU IPA's being the norm, sours being (fairly) common, and craft beer being more widespread in general - new drinkers probably don't need training wheels. I know some craft drinkers that seem like neophytes that embraced sours almost instantly. When you've never known a time with no Arrogant Bastard, you're probably ready for anything...although maybe at the cost of subtlety appreciation.

 

I agree completely. The idea of training wheel beers is a silly concept

 

How does it take until halfway through page two for someone to mention Westbrook Gose? It's very sour, extremely tasty, and really cheap. Granted, it's only available in a few places, but it's plentiful in those areas and easy to trade for. It is my go-to summer beer.

 

This is true; Valley is a fantastic sour. But maybe drop a couple of bucks on a Gose before dropping $12 on a comparably sized Almanac. If you end up liking the sours then you can start splurging.

 

I did not see Une Annee Esquisse mentioned. A pretty good American Wild Ale out of Chicago.

 

I think the first two I really remember trying were the Duchesse de Bourgogne and the Zoetzuur Flemish Ale and not really getting it. But I kept trying and trying and the one that grabbed me was the Proginator Noir from Crooked Stave. Now any time I see a Dry-Hopped Sour Black Ale I grab it and price be damned. Though, I think only Paradox Skully Barrel No. 27 is the only other one I've seen lately.

*Shrug*

If you like IPAs and you are generally a hop head, I'd give that route a try. Find something dry-hopped. Once you find that beer that just makes sense to you, its pretty easy to really begin enjoying all varieties of sours.

 

The first time I tried a sour I attempted to kill a 750ml bottle of Oud Gueuze by myself. Not the best intro to sours but I've loved them ever since.

 

Rodenbach Gran Cru is amazing on draft. Sorry if it's in Rhode Island not Chicago. It is a nice tart with a vinegar that I believe comes from a wine barrel used to age the ale. It is a slow sipper and a port of beers.

 

Rodenbach Classic
Monk's Cafe

 

Rodenbach Grand Cru - One of the most accessible beers.

 

Very intested in this thread because the only ones I have tried wereat New Belgium in 2013. Bo was gracious enough to take us into the back to sample some stuff from the big ass barrels.

 

I agree. I have drank sours almost exclusively for over a decade. There are a lot of things I would rather have than Cuvee Rene but c'mon, its on the shelf, not too expensive and really good. Can't beat it.

 

Sours are not just one style. Try a few of several styles. Do some research, and try a gueze, gose, berliner, lambic, wild ale, ect. They all have there own characteristics, and you may not like certain types of sours. For the longest time, I despised Flanders reds, they tasted like vinegar to me. Now, Rodenbach is a staple.

Some sours that are easy to get are: highway 128(gose, Anderson Valley), Cuvee rene(Gueze Lindemans),Professor Fitz briem 1809(Berliner Weiss, Germany import), Rodenbach(flanders red), Supplication(wild ale, Russian river, probably have to trade, but awesome, maybe wait for this one) Also, seems as how you like hops, maybe Le Terroir from New Belgium would be an interesting one for you, it's a dry hopped wild. Hope this gives you some Ideas, it is fun to explore! don't be put off if you dont like one, you will probably like another. Cheers!