Everything you need to know about Sour beers
What is a Sour beer?
A Sour beer, is the oldest type of beer in history. Almost all beer used to have acidity in it before pasteurization and sterilization were fully implemented. Today, Sours are acidic-like and are made with wild bacteria and yeasts. Sours have a wide range of styles and can range from extreme to slightly sour in flavor and can contain fruit. A well-known American Brewer who brews Sours is . Energy City Brewing. They brew with the beer styles such as the Sour Fruited, Sour Fruited Berliner Weisse and the Sour Smoothie Pastry.
Who invented the Sour beer?
The rise of brewing and drinking beer dates back to about 4,000 BC, when all beers were essentially sour beers. Sour beers have a very long history and are considered the ancestors of many modern beers. The first sour beers were brewed in Belgium in the early 18th century, and there are still breweries in Flanders (northern Belgium) that have been brewing beer for hundreds of years. Many Belgian and German immigrants brought sour beer to the United States after the Civil War, but this style remained difficult to find in America until the 1970s.
The different styles of Sour
Fruited Sour
Fruited Sour beers, usually they are brewed and soured in the boiling kettle. After that process, the beer is fermented with clean yeast and then a lot of fruit is added. While European brewers prefer raspberries, cherries and peaches, American sour brewers tend toward more tropical fruits such as papaya, mango, tangerine and pineapple.
Fruity Berliner Weisse Sour
Low in alcohol and refreshingly acidic. Berliner weisse consists of a balance of yeast and lactic acid. Berliner Weisse is often pale in color and can be cloudy because they are often unfiltered. Hops are not a feature of this style But these beers often show esters. Brewers are now adding traditional and exotic fruits to the recipe resulting in flavorful beers with colorful hues. Berliner Weisse is often high in carbonation which contributes well to the refreshing factor. Many examples of Berliner Weisse contain no hops and are not bitter.
Smoothie Pastry Sour
Smoothie pastry sours are often full-bodied fruit-smoothie-like beers. Full of different fruits, lactose and/or chocolate etc. An increasingly popular beer style and delicious in summer weather.
Fruited Gose Sour
Fruited Gose Sours contain a wide variety of herbal, spicy, floral or fruity flavors not found in the traditional Gose beer style. Salt (table salt) character is traditional in small amounts, but can be tasted in varying intensities.The low to medium lactic acid character emerges in all styles as a sharp, refreshing acidity.
Sour IPA
An IPA with an intentionally sour, sharp or sour-like flavor. This can be achieved through different brewing techniques: ‘kettle souring’ ;adding lactic acid bacteria, adding fruit with high acidity and using/adding microorganisms that produce acid.
What is the typical ABV in a Sour?
The ABV of Sours is between 5 and 10 percent.
Where do you store a Sour?
6 to (max) 12 degrees. So in your refrigerator (or basement if the temperature is right)
Store Sours in bottle in a dark place. There they retain their quality and gradually become fruitier. CO2 expands as it gets warmer. If the beer is kept above 12 degrees, it loses CO2 (and thus bubbles).
What does a Sour taste like?
A Sour (sour) beer, as the name suggests, has a sour, acidic taste. To find balance in flavor (and especially that your whole mouth is not tight with acidity), and fruit flavors are added such as raspberry, cherry, peach and other fruits.
Sour beers and food
Beers support and enhance the flavors of food. A Sour lends itself perfectly to dessert. Especially with fruity desserts(especially on summer days, a Sour is a good choice to enjoy):
- Fruit desserts (with strawberries, raspberries, peaches, etc.).
- Cake-like desserts
- Ice cream desserts
- or just as the dessert itself