I plan to make the jump to Sour Beers this summer. I love drinking them, but have never brewed one. I know that I need a separate fermenter, etc... for sours, but other than that and some rough info on flavor profiles, I know very little about them. Can you recommend some good and informative books about sours?
These all helped me out immensly over the last year and a half with my forray into Wilds and Saisons. Some personal advice: Don't discount the usefulness of Saisons in helping you construct a good solid wild beer. Wild Brews by Jeff Sparrow Farmhouse Ales by Phil Markowski Mad Fermentationist's website Chad Yakobson's website
Mike has a book coming out but likely not for a couple years, till then this is the best short but fairly comprehensive overview: http://www.themadfermentationist.com/2009/11/brewing-sour-beer-at-home.html
Another vote for the Mad Fermentationist's blog...awesome reading. I don't brew sour beers myself (don't have space right now), but I've already learned a lot about the process from reading OldSock's stuff. It's really enjoyable reading, too...I like his extensive tasting notes, and he also has great info about non-sour brewing. I also liked Wild Brews...I enjoy history, so it was cool reading about the development of sour brewing in Belgium.
