Your "Gateway" Sour Beer

I'll beat the dead horse of Rodenbach Grand Cru. An excellent intro to the style, and it holds up as an excellent example even after years of drinking sours. I remember it also being an extremely educational beer in terms of how oak aging can influence flavors.
Warning...along with introducing the style, it may also start you down the path of road trips to Cantillon twice a year and beer hauls going from double digit to triple digit in terms of cost.

 

Any of Allagash's wild ales are very approachable and quite tasty. Those are the ones I use frequently to get my friends into "sours"

 

Allagash Interlude; still one of my favorite beers to change things up.

 

My first sour was Windowsill from The Bruery. I thought it was delicious, then I went to Russian River and had Consecration and Supplication to seal the craze.

 

This was my first sour and i was amazed at what beer could be. I still love it.

 

I toured the New Glarus brewery and had their Berliner Weisse. If it were not for that beer, I think my appreciation of craft beer as a whole would be completely different.

 

Supplication. It was the first sour I ever tried. Got off on a really good foot.

 

I have yet to run into a sour that I thought was too much to handle, but two of the ones I tried fairly early on stand out in my memory as having set the hook deeper: Crooked Stave Surette, and Jolly Pumpkin Fuego del Otono.

 

Mine was the Cuvee de Jacobins Rouge as well. Immediately followed by Supplication...

 

Wicked Weed Serenity

 

Monk's Café or Rodenbach. I can't remember which one I had first.

 

Russian River Consecration and Supplication. They weren't the first that I tried but they were the first where I said "WOW" sours are actually pretty good!"

 

It was the first two that I had back to back: Indeed Wooden Soul and Odell Brazzle

 

Wasn't my first, but the one that made sours click with me was Petrus Aged Pale Ale

 

Love child #3

 

Casey anything. Really the only sours that I like. Although that black angel is awesome.

 

Even though its not technically a sour it was the Westbrook Gose that got me highly interested and eventually hooked on sours.

 

The Bruery's Oude Tart was my introduction to the world of sour beers. I didn't hate it or love it; my reaction was "This is really strange - why would anyone want their beer to taste sour???"

My gateway sour beer came a few weeks later. I was on a business trip and had Rodenbach Grand Cru on tap 3 nights in a row.

These days my go-to sour is Love Child #5. Local store has plenty available for $9.99. Score!

 

Monk's Cafe for sure. Got my wife really hooked on sours.