We'll be having the first official tasting event that we've had in quite a while. It will be a sour beer tasting night, encompassing legitimately sour beers and beers which are commonly called "sour" such as brett beers. I'm making this one much more structured than other tastings insofar as I'm going to post a menu and people need to volunteer to bring a particular beer, posting it up in here. If we plan for this correctly we can cover a wide array of the types of sour beers.
This event is for people who are interested in learning more about what a sour beer is, how it's made, what its history is, where it's going in the future, and what they all taste like. It will be good for anyone interested in joining our sour beer brewing program.
Without further ado, here's a menu:
I: Lambics (a beer fermented with wild yeast)
a). Gueuze- a beer blended from three different batches of lambics. Suggested types: Tilquin Gueuze Ancienne, Cantillon Classic Gueuze, Haansen's Artisanal, Oude Beersel Oude Gueuze Vielle, Boons, Mariage Parfait, Girardin Timmermans, Drei Fontein. (Dave bringing Drei Fontein. Still taking more volunteers as at least two Gueuze's would be nice to sample).
b). Kriek- a lambic aged on cherries. (Daniel bringing Drei Fontein Scheerbeek Kriek)
c). Framboise- a lambic aged on raspberries.
II. Berliner Weisse: Suggestions: 1809 (available at Binny's), Bruery's Hottenroth, Bell's Oarsman
III. Flanders style-
a). Flanders Red: Duchess de Bourgogne, Rodenbach Grand Cru
b).Flanders Brown: Petrus Oud Bruin, Bacchus
IV. American Style Sours:
a). Jolly Pumpkin- Any, although I'd recommend something light and crisp like oro de calabaza so the bugs shine through really well.
b). Goose Island- any of the 3 sisters, Madame Rose, Juliet, or Lolita. (Dave Williams bringing Madame Rose).
c). Anything else. New Belgium, Allagash, and Ommegang all occasionally dabble in beers with lacto, pedio, or brettonomyces.
V. Shitty Beer- Sour beers, too, are prey to downgraded quality due to the American marketplace's tendency to target the lowest common denominator, and establish it as the standard. Thus, many traditional belgian lambic producers have begun adding sugar to their blends to cut the sourness and tartness, making the drink fit only as a sort of dessert beer that reeks of cough syrup cherries or raspberries. It would be nice to have one of these around to compare the others to. Suggestions: Lindemans, St. Louis, Timmerman's Kriek.
