Most balanced sour

A lot of American breweries are using aged hops and beer, and spontaneously fermenting yeast (e.g. Allagash, Degarde, Funk Factory etc). It's inaccurate to say that Cantillon's methods are unique, but I agree that the Cantillon's finished product is unique.

 

Well, I think I'd like to bring a wine comparison again. Accidity in certain white wines can be unballanced and ballanced, but yeah that's a question of personal taste, what works for some might not work for others. I just call things like sour beers or very dry sourish white wines "ballanced" when after a glass I feel I must have another one

 

Yeah , balance doesn't require equal amounts of everything ; balance can be achieved in a number of ways . Just look at a typical Rembrandt painting - there's no equal light to dark ratio , but there's compositional balance .

With beverages , if they're palatable then they have balance whether they lean sour , sweet , bitter , etc .

 

The Rembrandt example is awesome..
Another example I can think of is Schlenkerla. Fresh Schlenkerla Märzen isn't equally parts smoky and hoppy, but the smoky maltiness is ballanced by a firm spicy hoppy finish, so you want to drink more than one..
Sourness/Smokiness alone doesn't work. As well as a painting that is just black would not be that interesting to look at for long, a beer that is JUST bitter/sour/malty without anything else isn't to interesting to drink for long.
Another prime example for me: Sweet Rieslings. Most people dislike sweet wines because there are introduced to it with bad sweet wines. With such examples, they are only sweet,nothing else, the sweetness becomes overwhelming and it's just an unpleasant expierence.
But a "ballanced" sweet wine has an accidity that plays with the sugar, making it palatable and interesting.

Back to sours-there, it depends on the style. With most belgian sour styles, I don't think they are only "sour", they actually have a lot else going on,as already mentioned by others: funk,hops, aging notes, depends on the particular beer, but there are layers upon layers of different flavours, not just "sour" or "tart". Same goes for a good Gose, which is as well spicy and salty. Or a Lichtenhainer, which is also a tad smoky. In all european sour beers I know, there is simply more going on than just "sour". It takes experience though to get those other flavours- for most people, the first geuze pr lambic is pretty overwhelming and they only taste "sour" (same with the first schlenkerla btw, were many people only taste "bacon" at first)... So yeah it stays highly subjective.

 

Thanks , and totally agree . Great post .

 

Are we counting Flanders in here? For me, honestly, Duchesse has an extremely nice balance of tart to sweet. Rodenbach Grand Cru also.

 

Oude Gueuze Tilquin à l'Ancienne. Great blend components. Bright, lemony, not over the top acidic, good mustiness and sharp cheese...it's perfect.

 

I live near Jester King, and while I hate 90% of their low ABV, smoke-infused, roasted squash, peppercorn wheatgrass experimental beers, their real treasure is Das Uberkind. Billed as a saison, it's really more of a wild golden ale. It provides the base for all of their fruited beers, almost none of which come out ready to melt your face.

 

Rodenbach Alexander is a good pick.

Grimm Telekinesis is one of the better balanced American sours that I've had in a while. Very drinkable, crisp beer with mild sourness and nice citric hops.

 

If you count Berlinerweiss as a sour we have a local here in Des Moines making quite a few that have a nice light sourness. Beatnik sour can be found for $9 a six pack and the bohemian series which is fruited Berliners are 13-14 a six. And they might be canning soon. They are all very good and are regulars in my rotation for sure.

 

This is all very subjective but the brewery that stands out in my mind is Grimm. Beers like Rainbow in Curved Air, Psychokinesis, and Present Perfect (just to name a few that stand out for me, they've made a million of these things) manage to be distinctly sour without going over the edge to enamel-stripping, esophagus-burning territory, and they do a remarkable job of balancing the influence of wood, fruit, and hops. Dry-hopped fruited oak-conditoned sour sounds like a parody of modern American brewing trends, but Grimm is able to bring all those elements together in a way that's cohesive, elegant, balanced and delicious.

 

All I have to say is Duchess De Bourgogne.

 

I enjoy boulevard's love child