Two are sour ales, and at least one was soured with brettanomyces. Personally, I think the trend is fantastic; if some cataclysm reduced the world's beer supplies to sour ales, I'd live a happy life. But I wonder--is anyone actually drinking this stuff?There's clearly a niche market for sour ales. When New Glarus released their soured fruit ales 15 years ago (ish), they were received with joy. As more breweries joined the party--though not until probably a decade after New Glarus, at least in any numbers--the sour-fans were yet more joyful. There are just enough of us to keep these small runs going.
Yet when I try to propagate the wild yeasted beers, I hit a brick wall. More than any other type of flavor, it seems that if a person doesn't like sour from the outset, he's never going to like it. (They may grow to admire well-made wild ales, but they'd never buy one for the pleasure.) Based on my very unscientific observation, maybe one in twenty people take to sour ales. And this is among beer fans.
One hopeful sign is that women seem to like sour ales more than men--and there's lots of growth potential there. Many of these beers are cuisine-friendly, and may curry some favor with the foodie set. So maybe there's hope.
BeerAdvocate currently lists 184 beers in the "American wild ale" style, which is a phenomenal number. I just wonder--a building trend, or a flash in the pan?
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http://globalbeer.blogspot.com/2010/01/move-over-hop-head-make-way-for-sour.html
ReplyDeleteBy the way Jeff, did you see in the recent issue of Draft Mag that there were some positive responsives to your Honest Pint Project in the reader submitted letters section?
Matthew, no, do you have a link?
ReplyDelete+1 for growing trend, albeit growing slowly.
ReplyDeleteMaybe it's a difference of cultural tastes? It seems like sour ales are more accepted elsewhere in the world. Belgium has Flanders Reds, Oud Bruins and various types of Lambics. And as a whole, Europe seems to employ sour mashing to a greater degree; be it a Berliner Weiss or a simple Guinness.
Cheers!
Kevin
beerandcoding.com
This is a very interesting subject that I have also been unscientifically researching for a while. My "findings" also suggest that women are more into sours -- that's not to say I haven't met a lot of men who like them, but of the non-beer people whom I have introduced sours to, the women have liked them more. Also, I think sours are a great gateway beer. I can't count the number of wine folks to whom I've handed a taste of Rodenbach or Vichtenaar and they say, "THIS is BEER?" It's very satisfying for a beer geek, as we all know.
ReplyDeleteI love sour beers but it was not love at first taste for this girl. At first I puckered and made strange faces when trying them but I also kept trying them. I can't remember which beer was my turning point but I can honestly say that they have become my absolute favorite beers!
ReplyDeleteI don't think a lot of hop heads will go for sours (although I enjoy both - but not at the same time). One thing I've noticed living on the fringes of Beervana and in the middle of Pinotland is that my friends who really like wine tend to enjoy the sour ales almost immediately. I think they flavors and aromas are more familiar to them than the double and triple IPAs. And I think the reverse is true - if you're used to lots of hops, moving to sour is a difficult transition.
ReplyDeleteOne more thing. I found it interesting that the students in my brewing course enjoyed the Belgian ales I had them taste more than the German beers. You could tell by their facial expressions, and ultimately how they rated the beers.
ReplyDeleteI sent it to your yahoo email that's listed on this blog.
ReplyDeleteI know I will drink a sour whenever its available. Which tends to be why I don't get to drink them often. Only a handful of places around Portland have it available.
ReplyDeleteI can't wait and hope it becomes a type I can pick up a nice case of in the near future.
Historically, before the world had knowledge of how yeast actually works, most beers were probably sour to some degree for 1000's of years.
ReplyDeleteI don't know many real beer snobs that DON'T like Sour beers. It is an acquired taste that most inexperienced beer drinkers find off putting. Guess it depends on the type of beer drinkers you hang out with?
I concur with Urban Beer Hiker, albeit based on a one-woman sample. She's a wine snob and a confirmed beer-hater, but a glass of Cascade's fine seasonal Gose absolutely blew her mind: "this is BEER?!"
ReplyDeleteI can't say she's entirely converted, but I do suspect that sours' flavour profile holds some familiar comfort for the wine drinker.
I call that Good News.
Sour ales were all the rage at the 2009 GABF last year. Sour beers were my most sought after style. Avery Brewing of Boulder, CO is hosting their 1st ever SourFest at the end of this month. I'm planning to attend. Should be wonderful.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Chipper. I ping ponged back and forth between Russian River and Lost Abbey until they ran out of Consecration, Duck Duck, Red Poppy, Temptation and others after Thursday. They went fast, and then I went exploring. We don't get many sours outside of house beers at the Draught House and La Folie from New Belgium at Austin. They're good, but can't compare. And yes, you have regular Beervana readers in TX.
ReplyDeleteIMO, what you're seeing is two forms of the "this is beer?" response. One group, who doesn't like what they think beer traditionally tastes like, is accepting of the sours because they are so different. The other group rejects it exactly because it's not what they think beer is supposed to be.
ReplyDeleteI believe that over the long run sour beers will become more and more popular as they become more widely available. Bitter will always be an acquired taste (because instinctively bitter=poison), while sour (at least mildly sour) is naturally appealing to most people.
Personally, I find the sour ales fairly disgusting and unapproachable. I'm not even sure they are an acquired taste. I'm an avid beer appreciator, but try as I might, the sour ale just doesn't please me. The amount of interest in sour ales I've noticed over the last year is just amazing to me. Mark my words: When my brewery finally opens it doors, I will never intentionally produce a sour ale. Well, at least not by this brewers hands ;-D
ReplyDeleteA list of 6-7, widely available, sour beers would be useful, to me. A couple of suggested 'entry' or 'transitional' beers would be particularly useful.
ReplyDeleteand 'curry . . . favor . . . with foodie' - nice.
JBX, I would start with these beers: Duchesse De Bourgogne and Liefmans Goudenband. Then try something from Cascade--this year's kriek is insanely good, and the apricot is always a winner, too. That would give you a sense of the approachable sours. If you were liking what you tasted, you could delve into the lambics. Cantillon is more readily available, but I prefer Boon. Cantillon's sour is austere and very dry; Boon's has a little more funk.
ReplyDelete