As summer's doldrums approach, it's time to talk about patio beers — light, refreshing quenchers to slake your thirst and cut through the humidity. Tart, fruity and typically low in alcohol, sour beers offer a great heat-beating option.
Sour beers are nothing new. They've been around for centuries; perhaps even as long as there has been beer. Some styles, like the German Berliner weisse and gose (GO-suh), have gone extinct as tastes changed, only to be revived again by American and European craft brewers. In recent years, sour beers of all shapes, sizes and pedigrees have found renewed popularity with drinkers.
Most modern sour beers are made from a process called kettle souring, in which a strain of acid-producing bacteria is introduced into the fresh wort (unfermented beer) and allowed to ferment for a short time. This produces the bright, lactic acidity that defines these beers. From there the brewing process continues normally from boiling to fermentation with yeast. The resulting beers can be one-dimensional; fruit or other ingredients are often added to give them complexity and balance the sourness.
The beers exhibit a range of profiles: Some are puckering tart, while others have only subtle sourness enveloped by bready malt. Those with added sugars can resemble sweet fruit slushies. Most are refreshing quenchers well-suited for steamy summer days. There's something here for everyone.
Roselle from Fair State Brewing Cooperative in Minneapolis is a great introduction to sour beers. The acidity is mild, giving a lightly tart, lemony complement to the base of bready wheat malt. The real driver is hibiscus, which brings pleasant citrus and floral notes that linger into the dry finish.
Pryes Brewing Co., also in Minneapolis, has a pair of winners with Royal Raspberry and Royal Peach beers. Royal Raspberry is about as straightforward as it gets. It's a no-nonsense, medium-sour ale with notes of lemon juice, lemon peel and plenty of tart raspberry, a fruit with a natural tartness that makes it well suited to these beers. The fruit sits comfortably on a bed of white-bread wheat. Simple, delicious and a great break from the heat.
Sweet peaches add a layer of richness to Royal Peach. Canned peach sweetness up front is followed by late and lingering sourness. It's like a slightly sour peach pie with hints of wheat malt providing the crust. Quite delicious.
Raspberry Sour from Lake Monster Brewery in St. Paul is a German-style Berliner weisse with raspberries. It's mildly tart. The acidity is well balanced with the wheat malt base. The raspberry tastes natural and fresh, offering a great complement to both the acid and the malt. It finishes with light, lingering bitterness.
For a more authentic Berliner weisse, look for Marlene from the Schneeeule Brauerei in Berlin. This is a classic example of the style named after classic actress Marlene Dietrich. Light, bright and tart with lemony acidity sitting on a bed of soft, bready wheat. Hints of funk suggest a mixed-culture fermentation. At just 3.5% alcohol, this is made for the summer long haul. In Germany, Berliner weisse is commonly served with raspberry or woodruff syrup. Give it a try. It's one of the best beer drinks you'll ever have.
Patio Perfection is a new, limited-release beer from St. Paul's Summit Brewing Co. Brewed in the German gose style, the main player is yeasty, bread-dough, wheat malt, enhanced by a subtle touch of sea-salt salinity and lime. The acidity is very mild. Lemony, lactic tartness is joined by touches of funk from the special yeast blends used to ferment it. Floral hop flavors and light bitterness round it all out.
Strawberry can be a difficult flavor to infuse into beer. Indeed Brewing Co. of Minneapolis gives it a go with Strawberry Fields Sour Ale. This one is more on the puckering end of the sourness scale. Acidity is moderate at first but kicks in for the finish. Strawberry is also largely a lingering aftertaste. It has an almost ephemeral quality, existing in a there-but-not-quite-there space as it wafts in and out of perception. It's anchored by sharp, wheaty malt that brings a touch of sweetness.
Dream Patch Fruited Sour from Brewery Ommegang in New York is more complex than many modern sours. Brewed with cherries, raspberries and blueberries, it pours a deep, opaque, ruby red. The aroma and flavor are all fruit, all the time. Dark and sour cherries start it off and linger on in the finish. Sweet blueberry and tart raspberry fill in the middle. Not excessively sour, the acidity is well balanced by malt and fruit sweetness.
Surly Brewing Co. takes fruity sour beer to the extreme with its 9% alcohol Velvet Jam. The Minneapolis brewery jam-packs this one with ripe cherry and raspberry flavor and aroma. In fact, there were chopped-up cherry bits at the bottom of my glass, so you know the fruit is real. And yes, I ate them. Cherry is the primary flavor, sitting on a bed of bready malt. Acidity is very light, coming in late and enhanced by tart raspberry that lingers into the finish. The alcohol heft is apparent in the medium-full body, but it doesn't taste alcoholic. This beer would be great for a summer night bonfire.
Drippin' from Drastic Measures Brewing in Wadena, Minn., is a pastry sour made with blue raspberry flavoring, tangerine and marshmallow fluff. It pours with an opaque haze and startling blue color. The aroma is that of a blueberry ice pop. The flavor is like a raspberry hard candy, simultaneously sweet and tart. Marshmallow fluff adds vanilla flavor and body, but doesn't push it to over-the-top sweetness. Freeze it and make a slushie — it would probably be pretty good.
Michael Agnew is a certified cicerone (beer-world version of sommelier) and owner of A Perfect Pint. He conducts private and corporate beer tasting events in the Twin Cities, and can be reached at michael@aperfectpint.net.
