Educate me on sour beers

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But where to begin?

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I think the style you started with is the style to start with - Berliner Weiss. Many of them have added fruit that make them extra refreshing this time of year. Trim Tab has one as well that is very approachable - Paradise Now.

If you want more tart taste, look for a kettle sour. Ghost Train in Bham makes a decent one - Kaleidiscope I think is the name of it. Many of them also have fruit added to them.

Gose is another style sour, and probably the least approachable. It's brewed with salt which can be off putting. Trim Tab makes a Margarita Gose that is the most approachable one I've had because the salt works for a margarita taste. Westbrook makes a popular one, but it's way too salty for my taste.

I really like Saison Bretts as well. Brett is the yeast used to make them sour. I can't think of a readily available one to look for off hand. They're not as common.

You can also find IPA's made with sour yeasts. I've only had a couple I've liked. Trim Tab has done a few limited release ones that were okay. Many of them also have fruit added.

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If you want more tart taste, look for a kettle sour. Ghost Train in Bham makes a decent one - Kaleidiscope I think is the name of it. Many of them also have fruit added to them.

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Yeah, going to check those out too. I love all of GT's other offerings, so figured it being local and easy to get would be my next one to try.

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Gose is another style sour, and probably the least approachable. It's brewed with salt which can be off putting. Trim Tab makes a Margarita Gose that is the most approachable one I've had because the salt works for a margarita taste. Westbrook makes a popular one, but it's way too salty for my taste.

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I would also steer clear of a Flanders Red, as they're even less approachable - something like Cuvee de Jacobins Rouge is just shy of drinking vinegar. That said, my first sour beer was a gose from Destihl, and that was pretty assertive.

Another beer you might have in your area is Guava Jelly from Chandeleur Brewing. Chandeleur makes a couple of nice beers along those lines, Lovebug is a passionfruit sour that I also like.

The Parish Sips series is an excellent place to start.

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They have the Imperial boysenberry at the brewery if you are ever by the location.

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I had some when it was first released. I liked the original, lower ABV one, better.

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school me on sours

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I'll Tell you what not to do. Do not drink a whole bomber of LA folie after copious other whalez all in one night. The taste stays with you for many long days.

I somewhat agree. Petrus has a lot of straight up clean acid with a more traditional malt/hop backbone. It is the gateway to more traditionally Belgian sours. I think a berliner weisse is a good start to basic acid tolerance, but Petrus is kind of the middle ground. If you like Petrus, you're ready to jump in to the deep end.

I know someone mentioned staying away from Flanders red, but Rodenbach is a good litmus test (literally!) that can judge your willingness for the style. The base Rodenbach is not super sour and has a good funk level. A good localish immitation you might find in B'ham is Yazoo Embrace the Funk Deux Rouge. It's a little more sour than Rodenbach, but it's so good. They have a cherry version they frequently make that hits distribution. Might hit up Hop City for it - and really for any of the other beers I mention.

My foray started with brett beers, which aren't acidic per se, but you'll find a lot of brett characteristics in sour beers and will help to expand your understanding of what beer can be. The one brett beer that opened my eyes was Anchorage Love Buzz, but I don't even know if you can find that even more. Orval is the classic in the brett category and can easily be found.

The second beer that really had an impression on me was New Belgium Le Terrior. It is an American classic. No debate about that. It's overly hoppy with American hops and has decent sour backbone. Who knows if NB even makes it anymore since they've gotten so mainstream. I haven't looked for it lately, but I'll buy it whenever I see it.

I tend to stay away from overly-fruited kettle sours that seem to be popular in the current craft market. They have their place, but I don't find them to be representative of the more classical sour beers.

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I tried that new “cheers from grand isle” Beer by Parrish that everyone has been hyping up and I wanted to throw the whole 4 pack away, managed to choke them down though. To each his own I guess, there was a time I didn’t like IPAs either, maybe I’ll come around lol

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Berliner-style Sour ale conditioned with Coconut, Kiwi, & lime.

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No one should have to come around to that. That sounds terrible.

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Brett is the yeast used to make them sour.

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I want to echo/rephrase what Bottomland said, brettanomyces on its own doesn’t really make beer sour. Instead you get a whole spectrum of funky flavors that can be either off-putting or delicious, depending on execution and personal preference. Brett is difficult to do well, but when it’s right, it’s absolutely delicious. It’s also probably the most unappealing style to describe — leathery horse blanket isn’t going to appeal to most people, but when you taste it, it just makes sense



Have fun OP, sour and funky beer is a journey.