The Pursuit of Hoppiness
The wonderful world of sour beers
It takes months of work and years to perfect the newest trend in craft beer.
Remember those funny Keystone Light bitter beer face commercials that aired in the 90s? One drink of a nasty beer would turn anyone into a denture-less grandparent.
Now look at us, drinking IPAs and Double IPAs, reveling in a breweries ability to balance bitterness, malt, and hops.
As with everything in life, whether it’s politics, weather, or fashion, there’s a cyclical nature to trends in beer. IPAs are all the rage right now, but as we begin a new year, let’s talk a little bit about sour beer.
Yes, there’s an entire style of beer designed to make your mouth water and lips pucker like a package of Sour Patch Kids (with the added bonus of alcohol.)
The majority of sour beers have some sort of fruit added to them, bringing complexity and fruity flavors to the sourness.
Typically, sour beers take a year or longer of work to achieve the desired flavor. The bacteria required to ferment the sweet wort into a drinkable, sour beer works really slow, going through many phases — some of which aren’t pleasant on your nose. Barrel aging is a staple of sour beers.
However, kettle souring is a new trend that’s catching on among breweries. Instead of babying a beer for months on end, breweries are able to create a sour beer in a matter of weeks.
What does that mean to you? It’s very likely you will begin to see house sour beers on more and more tap lists, regardless of how big or small a brewery is.
In the mean time, if you’re looking for some delicious sours to get your palette wet, look no further than below:
- Crooked Stave: Based out of Denver, Crooked Stave has made a name for itself with its consistency in a sour world where nothing is consistent. If you find yourself in Denver, you can find Crooked Stave tucked inside The Source. It’s an old industrial building, repurposed as a modern hangout for hipsters and normal people.
- Avery Brewing: When I think of Boulder resident Avery Brewing, I immediately think of El Gose and the Raspberry Sour. Both are tasty, yet completely different than one another.
- New Belgium: I’ve yet to visit Fort Collins to tour New Belgium’s digs, but I’ve heard the barrel room is as impressive as the brews that come out of them. If you’re lucky enough to find a bottle of Clutch, a barrel aged sour stout, grab it and run. It’s produced once every five-years, and it just hit the shelves a few weeks ago. Another sour beer I’m fond of from New Belgium is La Folie. I haven’t had a 2016 bottle yet, but 2015 never let me down.
Now, I know what you’re going to say: $18 for a bottle of sour beer!? And you’re right, it’s pricey. However calling it “beer” is a bit misleading, at least in terms of price. Beer is made in a matter of days, sour beer is made in a matter of months.
Think of a bottle of sour beer on the same playing level as a decent wine.
Take La Folie for example, it’s brewed and then aged in a barrel anywhere from one to three years. New Belgium then tastes each barrel every three months, and when it is time the brewery will mix two barrels — of different ages — together to make La Folie.
The time and effort put into making a sour beer are very similar to that of a wine, hence the price.
So grab a bottle, and save it for a special occasion. It’s worth it.
