Cherry Jane: 7.5 – It’s quite clear why the words Turkish Delight are added here, because there’s more going on then cherries. It’s muted and lightly spiced or something akin to brown sugar. It’s more pie cherry than a typical fruity cherry. While it’s fine to like both this style is much more relaxing and enjoyable.
Price Average: $4
Website: https://lagunitas.com/
Avancé: 8.0 – It’s a bit weird to go from a sour that’s aged as that certainly has an aspect here, giving this a sort of graham cracker like feeling, and of course that’s complemented by the heavy strawberry flavoring. The result is like almost cheesecake like but w/o the cream and also it’s a beer. One does wonder if they made it with lactaid if it could pull off such a feat, but as is it’s a decidedly delicious and unique beer nonetheless.
Price Average: $13
Website: https://www.allagash.com/
Little Sal: 8.5 – It’s not often a mere trio of words can make one salivate, but Allagash, Sour, and Blueberry fit the bill. We don’t talk much about ‘color’ here on HBR because it’s often meaningless, but you pour this and look at the color and know it’s going to be a good time. As for the beer itself, it’s as expected – well executed, the sour is there, but the sweetness of the blueberries means it’s never not enjoyable. If we have a complaint it’s that the local store only sells 1 per customer and that soon enough this will likely be gone forever.
Price Average: $14
Website: https://www.allagash.com/
Oude Bae: 6.5 – It really captures the fact that this isn’t a sour meant to remind you of grapes, but that really there’s just a bunch of grapes in here. Overall the beer is a nice sour, but it goes that rose/champagne route a little too much and there’s only the semblance of a beer/wine balance here. It is still tasty though.
Price Average: $12 for 4-pack cans
Website: http://www.stillwater-artisanal.com/
Ghost Species: 8.5 – That truly is a near perfectly balance sour ale that’s been aged in wine barrels. Normally we’re a bit more middle-y, but this is quite frankly too well executed. It’s also incredibly delicious.
Price Average: $12
Website: https://springdalebeer.com/
Gose Gone Wild: 7.0 – It has a nice sour taste, and the aftertaste is really good leaving a nice mix of tart, sweet, and wheat. An overall very successful sour wheat ale.
Price Average: $10
Website: http://www.stillwater-artisanal.com/ (epilipsy warning)
Sexy Motherpucker Sour Ale: 5.5 – You certainly get that tartness and fruit from the citrus and grapefruit, and that alone makes it an enjoyable beer. If you are looking for a true ‘sour’ though you want something very unique above all – more than just a mash of tart fruit.
Price Average: $11 for half-bottle
Website: http://www.weyerbacher.com/