First, there were several posts about mid-strength beers, [1] now this one is about sour beers and next week comes the ultimate challenge – an entire blog about cider where I can’t use any rude words.

In previous posts, I have being making several predictions about where the beer scene in New Zealand may be heading.  I noted that “some in the industry believe that we will follow the United States into the sour beer trend, the same way we previously embraced the hoppy bandwagon. [However] I am now certain flavoursome session beers will be huge this summer and next year.” 

This week, I am forced to offer a counterpoint to my compelling argument of last week and present a completely impartial examination of the sour beer scene here. For starters, that involves a definition of what sour beer is and – as is my wont – I turned to my trusty Oxford Companion of Beer: [2] Vincent Cilurzo, owner and brewer at Russian River Brewing Company in California, had this to say in his entry on “sour beer”:

“While a certain level and quality of acidity is widely considered desirable in wine, often forming the backbone it flavour structure, acidity is usually considered a flavour fault in modern beer. When speaking of beer, the word ‘sour’ is usually pejorative. [3] That said, there is a range of older beer styles that are traditionally acidic, and together with modern variants inspired by them, they have been termed, perhaps a bit rakishly, ‘sour beer.’  When well made, they can be among the most complex and refreshing of beers, terrific with food and easily pushing the boundaries of what the modern drink thinks of as ‘beer’.”

“The rise of craft brewing in the United States and the emergence of upstart small breweries in other parts of the world has produced a new generation of brewers who aspire to create increasingly unique and flavourful beers.  Many of these brewers have taken inspiration from classically sour Belgian beer styles. Not content with mimicking Belgian sour beers, they have started to develop what might be termed ‘new world’ sour beers. Many of these new sour beers have no agreed-upon guidelines and are yet to be classified in any particular category.” [4]

“This, of course, is part of the fun for the brewers who are making them. Some are aged in wine barrels, while others are aged in bourbon or whiskey barrels, successfully blending flavours that typically might not work well together… The wild yeast strain Brettanomyces is considered a scourge in most of the world’s vineyards [but] cultured Brettanomyces is often used in the making of new world sour beers. Desirable flavours with sour beer using Brettanomyces are earthy, barnyard, mushroom, musty and a general ‘funkiness’.” [5]

I have to declare I have actually been to Russian River Brewery and been in the same room as Vincent Cilurzo, albeit along with around 1,000 other beer geeks at the World Cup of Beer. [6] I did a tasting tray at their brewery tap and caused a near riot when I tried their revered Supplication sour ale and, when pressed for an opinion, declared it akin to a bat taking a whizz in my mouth. So, it is fair to say sour beers are not really to my hop-focused taste.

Mr Cilurzo ended his Oxford Companion entry with this observation – “What is certain, if improbable, is that sour beers are taking hold, especially in the United States. Just as ‘natural winemaking’ is slowly emerging from cult status, so is the production and enjoyment of sour beers.” 

However, let’s not take the word of a revered brewer and sour beer expert – let’s check what bloggers have to say. Jay Barmann [7] wrote about the sour beer “trend” in 7×7 and said “I came to realize that sour beers are primarily about funk, and funk, when it comes to beer, means complexity. Sour beers are fascinating, often strange, and generally food-friendly because of their acidity, but one thing they’re not is easy-drinking. Well, most of them aren’t.”

“Sour beer marks a return to, and rediscovery of, beer-making traditions that existed long before the standardization and industrialization of the brewing process that happened in the last two hundred years. Hence, people’s tastes for beer have shifted far away from the funky, unpredictable, downright barnyard-y flavours that come from adding certain yeasts and bacterias during the brewing process.” 

Industry website Pegas notes seven beer trends of the years, the second of which is sour beer. [8] They argued “this is a trend that is not necessarily new, but there are now more beer drinkers who are accepting these styles of beer.  Beer does not always have to be sweet; it can be induced with fruit to provide a sourness on the palate. The variety originated in Belgium and is now catching on in the US.  Many brewers are creating sour styles as an alternative to their regular line-up of beers.”

“As sour styles gain greater acceptance by a wider audience, new drinkers are trying these beers, which are often balanced like fine wines.  Pairing these styles of beer with cheese can help create a perfect balance… The original traditions of sour beer-making come from Belgium and parts of Germany, and some of these beers are gaining cult status [9] among American beer geeks who until recently weren’t familiar with this funkiest end of the beer spectrum.”

Having established the growing popularity of sour beers, it is timely to list some of the sour beers currently available at Malthouse. Given my lack of empathy with the style, I thought it best not to even attempt descriptions because the words “bat” and “whizz” would crop up far too often. The list includes Moa 10 Year Beer (750ml), Moa Sour Blanc (750ml), Rodenbach Grand Cru (330ml), Hallertau Funkonnay 2012 (on tap from Friday), Duchesse de Bourgogne (250ml), Nøgne Sour Brown (250ml) and Bridge Road Saison (500ml).

While this week’s post was hard to write, next week’s will be far worse. In what will be one of the most anticipated pieces I’ve ever written, I have to be vaguely nice about cider for hundreds and hundreds of words. It is for the Malthouse Becomes Ciderhouse event which runs for a whole week (7-14 December).  Frankly, that blog will require a lot of imagination, helpful web searches and, frankly, IPA to write.

Next time we drink to comic genius Steve Kardynal. Check out his Chatroullette version of the otherwise worthless Wrecking Ball song in the links below.

[1] I previously blogged that I was “seriously contemplating attending this mid-strength beer event” and “stopping eating meat”. Clearly that was a joke. I did not turn up at all for the Session Beer Session but I have given up meat for the last three weeks – breaking my previous record of almost three hours.

[2] Like a bottle opener, it is never far from my side.

[3] Hear, hear Mr Cilurzo even though I know you are about to go on and say sourness can be a fine phenomenon. 

[4] For the Brewer’s Guild of New Zealand Beer Awards, sour beers tend to end up in the Specialty, Experimental, Aged, Barrel & Wood-Aged Styles category precisely because they donot really fit anywhere else.

[5] “General Funkiness” would be an excellent name for a Rhythm and Blues Band and/or the next beer from those “upstart small brewers” at Funk Estate.

[6] Yes, it is cool as it sounds. 
 
[7] What an excellent name for a beer writer. 

[8] For the record they were Nano- and Micro-Breweries, Sour Beers, Locally-Produced Beer in Restaurants, Creative Labelling, Extreme Beer, Hybrid Styles and Collaboration Beers. At least five of those would apply to New Zealand, possibly all seven.

[9] The word “cult” appears a lot in relation to sour beer drinkers.  Just an observation.

Cheers

Beer Writer
Beer and Brewer Magazine
Cuisine Magazine

Links

Oxford Companion to Beer – http://tinyurl.com/om6xzc2

7×7 Best and Worst of Sour Beer article – http://tinyurl.com/kq49ygk

Top seven beer trends – http://tinyurl.com/ox6hszn

Malthouse Ciderhouse Facebook event page – http://tinyurl.com/q5p6p8l

Steve Kardynal Wrecking Ball YouTube – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W6DmHGYy_xk
Malthouse Facebook – www.facebook.com/pages/Malthouse/7084276173
Malthouse Twitter – www.twitter.com/#!/malthouse
Malthouse Taps on Twitter – www.twitter.com/#!/MalthouseTaps
Neil Miller on Twitter – http://www.twitter.com/#!/beerlytweeting
Beer and Brewer Magazine – www.beerandbrewer.com/