Sours: Help for Noobs

like you i am also a noob to sours...

 

Same here with the sours. Recently asked for a recommendation from a bottle shop owner and he pointed me to Monk's Café Flemish Sour Ale. Said it didn't have an extreme amount of 'funk' and would be a good place for me to start. Enjoyed it and will be looking to get into more sour beers. Hope this helps.

 

Two of my favorite, easy-to-get sours are Tilquin Gueuze and St. Louis Fond Tradition Gueuze. These are both quite sour and would be akin to jumping into the "deep end" of sour beers. But if you are looking to train your palate, this may be helpful to see the full spectrum. Some others that are easy to get and different (less mouth-puckering) are Duchesse de Bourgogne and Monk's Cafe. And New Belgium's La Folie (I would put this as in between the two gueuzes and the other two in terms of sourness) recently hit stores. You might be able to find that around as well, although it isn't as widely available as the others I've listed. Lastly, many of the Bruery's sour offerings are solid as well, and I think those are available in NY... they are also very sour, for the most part.

My advice for learning to spot differences is to try a bunch of different styles and beers. That's the easiest way.

And as you try these beers, read some reviews from the "top reviewers" (especially @BEERchitect and @BuckeyeNation) who can help you identify out flavor profiles that you might not have otherwise detected.

 

Funk is a bit of a nebulous term, but it generally refers only to wild yeast flavors (brettanomyces, or "brett"), not sourness. Alternatively, it may refer to brett flavors in conjunction with some of the stranger pediococcus flavors, or possibly cork mold. But generally, people say "funk" as shorthand for "flavors derived from brett yeast." The best way to distinguish between funk and sour is to try a sour side-by-side with an old bottle of Orval or Goose Island Matilda.

I think the best introduction to sours is going to be Jolly Pumpkin. Some of their beers are more lightly tart with a lot of funk (Oro de Calabaza and Bam Biere come to mind), others are more sour (Noel de Calabaza, La Roja). I don't know if they distribute to New York but they aren't very hard to find in other states (finding a fresh bottle might be an issue, but you don't need these beers super fresh anyway). Jolly Pumpkin's beers are also cheaper than most sours. The next step up would be some of the easier to find gueuze lambics, particularly Girardin 1882; maybe Tilquin. Goose Island sours (Lolita, Madam Rose, Juliet, Halia and Gillian) are not widely considered world-class but the most recent batch of them should be easy to find (especially Lolita).


I would avoid most things described as "Flemish" or "Flanders" sours for now, including Noel de Calabaza and La Roja. That is the most polarizing style of sours around.

 

For funk/sours you may wanna try grabbing some Crooked Stave offerings. They are smaller format, reasonable prices and IMO do funk really great. Trade for some RR if its a style you really get hooked on.

Cuvee de Jacobins seems to be a popular choice for affordability and availability.

 

You want there to be more than just a sour flavor. Many U.S. sours are lacking in any discernible flavor other than "sour." Rodenbach Grand Cru is a nice introduction to how a good sour can incorporate fruity, almost wine-like flavor characteristics into a beer that is moderately sour. A good substitute would be Cuvee des Jacobins Rouge or Duchesse de Borgogne; I've found that Jacobins is more consistent.

 

Good threads to read :
http://www.beeradvocate.com/community/threads/first-sour.156162/
http://www.beeradvocate.com/community/threads/sours-for-beginners-help-me-out.114649/

 

petrus is a good place to start

oud bruin first then aged pale ale.

if you see it there is a yellow ish box called sour power sampler comes with two each of those and two monks cafe flemish red.

 

The term "sour" is quite often used to relate to a handful of styles of beer, so that makes things difficult. Personally I would try and find a brewery near you that offers a handful of those styles and go try tasters. As previously mentioned Jolly Pumpkin and Crooked Stave offer quite a few great examples that span the spectrum of Farmhouse with Brett to Flanders. My first experience with "sours" was La Folie and I hated sours for quite some time. The price point for many of these beers can also be a little hefty due to all the labor that goes into them. I cannot give you a brewery near you, but my route would be explore the local scene so you aren't dropping lots of money on something you might not enjoy. From there you can define what "sours" styles you do and do not enjoy. Hope that helps. Cheers!

 

The Mikkeler spontan-ales are good and pretty accessible. They are expensive for the bottle size, but then again, you're not making a huge commitment.

 

Someone else said to avoid Flanders for now but I wholeheartedly endorse this one. I initially found some sours pretty offputting (Cascade Kriek which is also Flanders) but I liked Cuvee de Jacobins Rouge right out of the gate. Lolita is a good beginner one too. Try some Berliner Weiss as well.

 

I would say to start with "Brett Beers". This will give you a sense of the dryness and funkyness that makes a sour ale great. Then when you appreciate these, you will want more wild and funkyness and then try some beers infected with Lacto and Pedio.
IMO, good sour beers are a combination of funk and acidity. If you just jump directly into beers that are both funky and highly acidic, you might miss the subtleties of each component.

OR, just go out and throw back some La Folies

 

Rodenbach, Rodenbach and then more Rodenbach

 

Cuvee de Jacobins for price, flavor and availability.

 

duchesse de bourgogne is a good gateway sour, started me down the dark and lovely road

 

<-----As good a place to start as any.

 

My first sour/lambic was Cantillon Rose de Gambrinus. I guess I'm more the adventurous type. Go figure.

The highlights from my review of it...

"Nose is like dogsh*t."
"...smells like animal poo."
"Punch in the mouth..."
"I certainly would not suggest a newbie to start with this."

 

I would think any Berliner Weisse would be the best place to start, due to the lack of funk/sour inducing yeasts. Maybe start with the effects of what the sour mash is like on the palate, and build from there? In my experience, Berliners are easier on the palate than jumping into a gueuze, and generally easier to quaff.