A couple weeks ago we grabbed Leifman's Sour Beer from the local beer shop.

It was really interesting. Great flavor. The first few sips, I was a little confused and didn't know whether I liked it or not. But I was hopeless at not sipping it and it grew on me fast. Very funky and dynamic taste - tart and tangy and unlike anything I've ever tasted before. It has so much flavor but is so light as well. My main problem with beers is that some of the best one's fill me up completely but the sour beer wasn't like that at all. It was really good.

My friend said that he discovered sour beers at one of the bars that has 100+ beers on tap and the first one he had was an apple flavor. I imagine that would be very good. I went back to that bar this weekend to try to find it but they no longer had it. Instead they gave me some other one that was good but much heavier and I think had a coffee aftertaste.

I'm quickly becoming a big fan of sour beers. They force you to drink slowly and enjoy the flavors but don't fill me up. The wikipedia on sour beers is super interesting too.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sour_beer

Unlike traditional beer-brewing, which is done in a sterile environment to guard against the intrusion of wild yeast, sour beers are made by allowing wild yeast strains or bacteria into the brew. Traditionally, Belgian brewers allowed wild yeast to enter the brew naturally through the barrels – an unpredictable process that many modern brewers avoid. The most common agents used are Lactobacillus, Brettanomyces, and Pediococcus. Another method for achieving a tart flavor is adding fruit – most commonly cherries (to produce kriek) or raspberries (to produce framboise) – during the aging process, to cause a secondary fermentation.

Because of the uncertainty involved in using wild yeast, the sour beer brewing process is extremely unpredictable. The beer takes months to ferment and can take years to mature.