A few days ago, a friend gave me some cans of better beer, one of which was sour beer, which was super delicious, so I looked it up and learned it, it’s really awesome! I found some articles with information to share. If you take a look at it (the pictures are not accurate), you can probably know what kind of wine sour beer is.
The brewing of sour beer
Unlike modern brewing, which is done in hygienic environments to prevent wild yeast invasion, historically speaking, the starter cultures used from one batch to another usually contained some wild yeasts and bacteria . Sour beers are brewed by intentionally allowing wild yeast strains or bacteria to enter, traditionally done through a cooling period in a barrel or in a coolship where the wort is opened to outside air.
The most common microorganisms specially used to sour beer are bacteria Lactobacillus and cocci. At the same time, the wine aroma can also add some sourness. Another way to obtain sour taste is to add fruits. Fruits directly add organic acids such as citric acid . Additionally, acid can be added directly to the beer, or it can be added using an excess of acidified malt. Depending on the process used, the uncertainty of using wild yeast can result in the beer fermenting for months or even years to mature. However, modern methods can make beer in a typical time frame of several days.
The original sour beer was not intentionally made by the brewer, but was influenced by many aspects. At that time, microbial separation and purification technology was not developed, and the yeast used to brew beer was not 100% pure yeast, but a microbial flora dominated by yeast, mixed with a variety of bacteria, a large part of which could produce acid; and the disinfection and sterilization measures during the production and transportation process of the entire winery were not as complete as modern times, so would more or less be infected with some acid-producing bacteria, making the beer sour.
Although brewing sour beer was not the original intention of the brewer, it has created the unique style of sour beer that is popular around the world today.
Sour beer in a broad sense refers to beers with sour taste, which is obviously not rigorous enough. The currently recognized classification of sour beers is divided into two categories based on region: European sour ales and American wild ales (refer to the BJCP guidelines). The difference between the two mainly lies in the fermentation process and raw materials. Most European sour ales add wheat. Broadly defined sour beer is divided into the following three categories and six styles.
Representative styles of European sour ales include
Berliner Weisser,
Flanders Red Ale,
Old Brown Ale (Oud Bruin),
Lambic,
Gueuze,
Fruit Lambic.
How to drink sour beer? must be done step by step.
When it comes to drinking sour beer, because sourness is not a pleasant taste for many people, many people drink sour beer for the first time, especially sour beer with a strong sourness, which is as unbearable as drinking vinegar. The strong sourness makes many beginners unable to find other rich flavors behind the sourness.
Therefore, I recommend that friends who want to try sour beer start with wine with lower acidity, such as Lindeman’s various fruit sour beers (if you are very sensitive to sourness), Lie fmans’ old brown ale, as well as Duchess, Rodenbach’s regular style, and then try some sour beers with high acidity or unique flavors. As you get used to the sour taste, you will discover the various complex and harmonious flavors hidden in the sour taste. These are the charm of sour beer.
In addition, various styles of sour beer also have different styles. A better understanding of these styles will allow us to enjoy these fine wines more.
For Lambic/Old Guize, since it is a natural fermentation, the most obvious feature of this kind of wine is the complex microbial fermentation smell. For example, many Lambic/Old Guize will have a musty aroma brought by wild yeast (many people do not think this is "fragrance". The fermentation process of wild yeast is quite complicated. Different strains and different fermentation environments will bring different flavors. However, Generally speaking, it is mainly musty, horse blanket, stable, earthy, herbal, dried flowers, cheese, and sometimes there are some fruit aromas, such as peaches, citrus, etc.);
and Flanders red mugwort/brown mugwort use a lot of dark malt, so there will be obvious malt sweetness, and some red fruit aromas, such as Flavors such as grapes, cherries, raspberries, , and some old brown mugwort will also have some obvious caramel flavor; the two sour beer styles in Germany have relatively simple malt and fermentation elements, so base beer will be relatively refreshing and clean. Couse will have obvious spice flavors and a very light salty taste. Berlin wheat mostly highlights added ingredients, such as fruit flavors (if Berlin wheat does not have flavor-enhancing ingredients, it will have a clean and pure sour taste and a little light wheat aroma) ;
As for American Wild Ale~~ In addition to the stronger sourness compared to other styles of sour beers, the use of other flavors is also more bold, such as the musty aroma and fruity flavor found in conventional sour beers, as well as many other unexpected elements, such as various spices, various hops, various wooden barrels, various grains, and even vegetables, flowers and other weird flavor-enhancing ingredients. In terms of taste, because acid-producing bacteria and wild yeast can decompose and utilize many raw materials that cannot be used by Saccharomyces cerevisiae, such as some disaccharides and oligosaccharides, the taste of sour beer is generally crisper and refreshing than other styles.
