I come from a land of beer brewing.. One of America's brewing meccas, in fact... Colorado. Home to craft and large scale breweries alike, including Coors, New Belgium and according to the Wikipedia page, 137 others, 4 of which are the among the top-50 brewing companies in the nation. Denver, Colorado has been coined the "Napa Valley of Beer" and a little place called Aspen was referred to as "a place where the beer flows like wine" in the movie Dumb and Dumber. Now that should tell you something...
Sadly, however, I usually only drink crap beers because my "pocketbook" thanks me and my underdeveloped palate doesn't know the difference... That is until now..
Just where exactly did Pabst win that blue ribbon?
Make way for: SOUR BEER. My cousin introduced me to the stuff when she and her bf gave me a bottle as a bday gift and told me to trust her. Initially wary, I knew it was legit when my brewer/beer connoisseur friend gave it an impressed nod of approval. Ya'll, it's the bomb diggity!
The beer is very "crafted" and takes a while to age but the biggest challenge brewers face with it, is convincing people to drink it because of its name. Or people that aren't educated to the soured style. Apparently, vendors of this "crafty" ale are often called up by customers who want to let them know that a bottle of barrel-aged beer they purchased had gone bad because it tasted sour... WRONG! That's how it's supposed to taste, you silly g̶o̶o̶s̶e̶s̶ geese!
No one ever complains about the taste itself though because it is just oh-so tasty! The "gueuze" sour ale style has a taste very similar to champagne or fresh lemonade. So for those with champagne tastes on a beer budget, you are now in luck!
I kind of like that it has this misleading name though because it almost makes it like a secret treat. Only those in the know get to experience the reward of the flavor. Wink, wink, now you're in on the secret. You're welcome.
The "reward of the flavor" is not without risk, however. For brewers, experimenting with sour beer is RISKY BUSINESS! Brewers often wait as long as three YEARS to see whether the cloudy liquids resting in oak ripen into shades of gold or raspberry and develop the ideal tart, tangy flavors, or become undrinkable, ravaged by aggressive yeasts ("aggressive yeasts" - sounds frightening). It can be an expensive gamble of which many brewers only take on for the sheer challenge of it. Oh the novelty!
Here are some favorites among sour beer lovers, that I narrowed down based on whether I thought their label was pretty. Don't hate me for my method of choosing alcohol :)
Gose - Westbrook Brewing Co.
Sofie - Goose Island Beer Co.
Oude Gueuze Tilquin.. Ya.. Good luck telling the person at the store you want that one..
Allagash Confluence Ale
Apparently this beer is very sour. You have been warned.
Excelsior White Gold
If you're looking for some food pairing ideas, click here for a full guide on which foods to pair with these tangy brews:
And if you're really feeling fancy, sour beer fruit sorbets are reportedly quite divine. See the recipe here:
Aight. Peace out, puckerfishies!
