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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Brouwerij Omer Vander Ghinstefrom $12.00The beer Cuv�e des Jacobins is unblended old lambic, aged for at least 18 months in (French) oak barrels from the cognac region. These oak barrels ...
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Rodenbachfrom $9.99Rodenbach Alexander was brewed for the first time in 1986 on the occasion of Alexander Rodenbach's 200th birthday and is now back by popular demand...
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Brouwerij Verhaeghefrom $10.50Duchesee de Bourgogne is the traditional top fermented reddish-brown ale from the West-Flanders region of Belgium. This refined ale also known as "...
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Rodenbachfrom $10.00A blend of 1/3 young beer and 2/3 of beer aged 2 years in large oak vats. The more important proportion of oak matured beer contributes to its frui...
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Garage Project$34.99Oud 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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Hop Nation$29.99Fermented in barrel and One year in pinot and shiraz barrels, Flanders red style mixed fermentation. Flavours of Candied apple, cigar box, balsamic...
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De Struise Brouwers$59.99Dark Horse Reserva is a hybrid dark sour ale, somewhere between a Dirty Horse and an Earthmonk. Spontaneously fermented and aged for 4 years on som...
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Brouwerij 't Verzet$11.99Lactic acid dominates the first taste. After recovering from the sourness you discover aromas of green apple, wood, bread and red fruit. The sourne...
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Jolly Pumpkin$37.99La Roja, an artisan amber ale brewed in the Flanders tradition. Deep amber with earthy caramel, spice and sour fruit notes developed through natura...
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Rodenbachfrom $5.50A blend of 75% young beer fermented in steel tanks and 25% old beer aged 2 year in large oak casks. Rodenbach bears the proud title of "the most re...
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Brouwerij Verhaeghe$8.99�Vichtenaar� is a beer, brewed with roasted malts, spicey hops, fruity yeast and soft water, pumped up from a 172 m deep well, guaranteeing constan...
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Brouwerij Omer Vander Ghinstefrom $7.99Originally called "Ouden Tripel", this ancient West Flanders Brown beer has found a newlan as a regional specialty under its current name: "Bellege...
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Crooked Stave$59.99Burgundy sour ale aged in oak barrels with Colorado Montmorency cherries.
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Crooked Stave$62.99Dark sour ale aged in Leopold Bros whiskey barrels with Colorado sour cherries.A demonic dark sour, Nightmare on Brett takes on many facets during ...
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Almanac Beer Company$24.99Vanilla Cherry Dogpatch takes everything you love about our regular Dogpatch Sour and turns it up to 11. We started with our base red sour ale and ...
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Rodenbach$38.99Rodenbach Vintage is the unique result of selection by our Rodenbach brew masters, the barrel after two years of maturation has produced the best b...
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Rodenbach$41.99The brewer allow the beer to macerate with fresh cherries, raspberries and cranberries. After this maceration in oak, the beer re-ferments in the b...
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Liefmans$7.99Infinitely complex in aroma and flavor with notes of maltiness and tartness throughout. An unsurpassed old brown with the richness and complexity o...
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Deschutes Brewery$54.99Introducing our wildest brew yet, The Dissident 2016 is a distinctive Belgian-style brown ale. Fermented with wild yeast, we have to isolate this b...
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