Food - Drink
15 Popular Sour Beers, Ranked
By GREYSON FERGUSON
“Sour” beers can be split into sub-categories ranging from wild beers to gueuzes to brews that are part sour, part IPA. While classic lambics (a sour beer style from Brussels) use a wild fermentation process that's hard to maintain, smaller brewers use modern methods that give them freedom to create some of our favorite sour beers.
15. Miami Madness
J. Wakefield Brewing in Miami, Florida brews Miami Madness, a kettle sour beer with a 7% ABV and next to no bitterness with 6 International Bitterness Units (IBU). It's made in the style of an Imperial Berliner, with hints of guava, passion fruit, and mango; you can taste Miami meeting Germany when you take a sip.
14. Supplication
Russian River Brewing Company makes Supplication, a wild ale beer that uses Russian River's brown ale as a base plus tart cherries to enhance the sour notes, and it's aged in pinot noir barrels for one whole year. Upon cracking open a bottle, you'll be greeted with oaky cherry and subtly funky aromas.
13. Le Terroir
New Belgium, the creator of this brew, was bought out in 2019 by Kirin Holdings, but Le Terroir is still a fine sour beer that is worth mentioning. Le Terroir is dry-hopped with several "experimental" fruity hops, clocking in at an ABV of 7.5%, but it only has 12 IBUs for a fruit-forward but less bitter flavor.
12. Duck Duck Gooze
Brewed by The Lost Abbey in California, Duck Duck Gooze is a gueuze-style beer, which is produced by taking two lambics (one aged, one new) and combining them before aging. It’s one of the most desired gueuze beers on the market today, with a 7% ABV and a fantastically complex and fruity profile.
11. Amorphia
Amorphia by Hudson Valley Brewing does an exceptional job of blending a sour and an IPA, knocking the flavor out of the park. At a 6% ABV, it's hopped with citrus and Nelson hops while it pulls from the tartness of strawberry plus vanilla — basically, it’s the adult version of your childhood 7-11 Slurpee.