In today’s world, sour beers can take on a number of connotations. In a world long, long time ago – sour beers were just that. They were sour, they would sometimes make your lips pucker and they were tart to the taste. But now – no, no, no – sour beers can be a plethora of things. They can be fruity-sour and sweet, they can be tart, and much more. The best thing about sours in today’s world, they can be almost any flavor and brewers can really have a ball when coming up with a flavor profile for their sours. Watermelon sour patch? No problem! Guava passion-fruit sour? You got it! The sky’s the limit. But what exactly are sour beers? Let’s dive into the exciting world of sour beers!
If we’re talking about the traditional sense of the word sour beers, we’re talking about the OG’s – Belgian Lambics, German Gose, and Berliner Weisse. Sour beers are traditionally brewed with the intention of allowing wild yeast strains or bacteria into the brew. There are a number of ways to achieve a sour style beer, but it’s mostly done during fermentation or post-fermentation.
One of the most popular, sometimes hard to find, but most sought after “sour” beer styles are known as wild ales. Although wild ales have become widely popular in the United States, they are also extremely sought after overseas in places like Japan. Another widely popular sour style, are fruited sours, which in the true context of a sour beer, aren’t actually always sour. They have a fruity taste, with a nice pucker to them and are a great way to ease into the sour style of beers if they’re new to you. When brewing a fruited sour, you do so in a process known as “kettle souring”, when you get to the boil stages of your brew, you do an extended boil and add the bacteria during the boil which allows you to sour the beer, but also kill the bacteria.
One fun thing about sour beers is the range in ABV. Depending on the beer, sour style beers can range anywhere from 3% ABV to 15% ABV. This range creates such a wide assortment of the type of sour beer you can get and makes the difference in taste an even larger variety – which all really makes this category a fun one to enjoy! You will usually find sour beers in the normal range of 4.5% – 8% and the higher ABV beers are usually in the wild ale style. Try them all, if you’d like!
Sour style beers are among some of the funnest and funkiest styles of beer. As you can tell, there’s a huge variety in the type of sour brew you drink, from fruited sours to wile ales, gose and lambics to Berliner Weisse and so much more. This category is a wild find and a great way to expand your palette in the world of craft beer. South Florida craft breweries never lets you down and sours are no different – there are some great breweries to go and check out sour styles – from Yeasty Brews, Invasive Species and Orchestrated Minds Brewing in Fort Lauderdale/Lauderhill area to Odd Breed Wild Ales in Pompano Beach and Civil Society in Palm Beach and Jupiter. There’s no shortage of sour beers in the South Florida area. So open up that good ol’ Google and search Breweries Around Me to check out the best craft breweries in South Florida, you won’t be disappointed!
About Yeasty Brews Artisanal Beers
Yeasty Brews opened its taproom and kitchen in December 2020 giving people a place to enjoy flavorful craft beers and hard seltzers in a funky, fun, welcoming environment. Founded by the Double D’s, Dan & Denielle, who love bringing awesome people together over delicious drinks and food. Our menu is classic and satisfying with a little something for everyone’s palate. If you are looking for a place to vibe out and chill then stop in today! Your tastebuds will thank you and the beers are delectable.
