Sour Beered!

So US craft beer is all about the hops eh? Well, while I’m sure it will be for some time to come, many of us have become a bit bored with one hop bomb after another. So what’s next? We’ve seen some great US made Belgian triples and Saisons. Some with an intentional bit of Brettanomyces induced funk. But why stop there? We’re surrounded by all kinds of microflora just waiting to turn sugars into alcohol and aromatic esters. Enter sour beer. On one extreme, a Geuze  (Cantillon for example) can be so acidic and so funky that it’s almost unpalatable. On the other extreme, you have Fruit Lambics such as Lindemans Framboise that’ll put you in a diabetic coma. So, somewhere in the middle is the Berliner Weisse, which draws its sourness from fermentation with lactic acid bacteria. While tart, it is not a palate stripping Geuze and is typically served with a bit of fruit syrup to balance it out. On draft at the moment we have Dogfish Head’s Festina Peche. The peach is not overwhelming and adds just enough flavor and sweetness to make this beer very refreshing. We’re also popping a bottle of a 2003 Festina Lente tonight. It promises to be very very sour.