Sour Beer
Sour has an intentionally acidic, tart or sour taste. The most common sour beer styles are Belgian: lambics, gueuze and Flanders red ale.
At one time, all beers were sour to some degree. As pure yeast cultures were not available, the starter used from one batch to another usually contained some wild yeast and bacteria. Unlike modern brewing, which is done in a sterile environment to guard against the intrusion of wild yeast, sour beers are made by intentionally allowing wild yeast strains or bacteria into the brew. Traditionally, Belgian brewers allowed wild yeast to enter the brew naturally through the barrels or during the cooling of the wort in a Koelschip open to the outside air – an unpredictable process that many modern brewers avoid.
The most common agents used to intentionally sour beer are Lactobacillus, Brettanomyces and Pediococcus. Another method for achieving a tart flavor is adding fruit during the aging process to spur a secondary fermentation or contribute microbes present on the fruit's skin.
Because of the uncertainty involved in using wild yeast, the sour beer brewing process is extremely unpredictable. The beer takes months to ferment and can take years to mature.
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Garage Projectfrom $5.99
Kettle soured wheat, lightly salted and infused with white peaches - a delicate three way salty, sweet and sour balancing act. A little bit of whit...
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8 Wired Brewing Co.from $10.50
Our Hippy Berliner was such a success that we ebbed to consumer demand and brewed a special edition with the addition of cooling cucumber. Bursting...
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Garage Projectfrom $6.99
Dragon fruit, galangal and pandan leaf sour. It’s that time again, time for something less ordinary. Now a Garage tradition, every year Beyond the ...
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Deep Creek Brewing Co.from $9.50
A limited release from our Tiki Range of fruit cocktail inspired sour beers, Waikiki is reminiscent of summer days with fresh watermelon pulp hand-...
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Garage Projectfrom $7.99
Muse: Au Naturel - our Wild Workshop ‘house sour’, a pristine blank canvas that invites creative possibilities. Fermented with Lactobacillus and ou...
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Garage Project$34.99
Oud Bruin, the traditional brown ale of Flemish Belgium, here painstakingly recreated and lovingly tended by Dave Bell, our Wild Workshop brewer. P...
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North End Brewing$8.50
Farmhouse brewers in Wallonia on the Belgian - French border produce incredibly complex and yet refreshing beers that combine spicy yeast cultures,...
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Yeastie Boys$9.99
Step back in time with this complex yet refreshing historical German-style session beer, which we�ve given a modern cocktail twist to with addition...
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Garage Project$36.99
The most rare and extraordinary Toadstone, the mythical gem formed in the head of a toad and said to possess the power to render poisons harmless.D...
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Garage Project$34.99
The latest release in our Wild Workshop Wildflower series. The concept is simple. Freshly foraged wildflowers are plunged into a light golden base ...
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Garage Project$34.99
A true celebration of the seasons. At its heart, one of our first mixed ferment sours, aged for over a year in a large oak foeder, then rested on t...
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Deep Creek Brewing Co.$8.99
A Berliner Weisse that's full of Kiwi summer fruit - nectarines, peaches and apricots. Expect layers of sweet fruit and a lovely tart finish. Brewe...
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Deep Creek Brewing Co.$8.99
A release from our Tiki Range of fruit cocktail inspired sours, this guava passionfruit sour style (Berliner Weisse) is made with 100% fruit pulp, ...
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8 Wired Brewing Co.$22.99
We barrel aged our first beer in 2010. Since then we have built up what we believe is one of the largest barrel ageing programmes of any brewery in...
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8 Wired Brewing Co.$23.99
This is the last barrel aged beer we brewed in Blenheim, before uprooting and setting up a new brewery in the North. A 100% spontaneous fermented a...
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8 Wired Brewing Co.$23.99
A sour ale brewed the traditional way. Aged in Pinot Noir barrels for 2 years with blackcurrants & a bunch of microbes, creating a complex mela...
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