Death to Sour Beer
Sour beers are out. The prefered nomenclature is now “mixed fermentation,” not “sour.” And acids, the chemicals that makes a sour beer sour, are also on the wane. For a while there, every brewery was experimenting with something sour. But things got too expensive and too tart. I guess average drinkers didn’t want to invest in bulk Tums. So breweries are getting better at blending bacteria and yeast for a more balanced profile. Here in Portland, Upright Brewing has been at the forefront of brewing with wild yeast and bacteria for nearly a decade now. I doesn’t matter if it’s lambic-esque like Ives or uses tons of fresh fruit like Fantasia, Upright makes a nice, quaffable beverage that balances sour, sweet, and bitter.
For example, Four Hands was fermented on Gewurztraminer grapes from Ovum Wines. It’s tart and fruity, with a lovely dry finish. It pours from the bottle with a nice fizzing sound, but the soapy head quickly dissipates. Acid is hell for foaming proteins. It smells like a sour beer. It has a sort of fruity funkiness, an acidic sting. But it tastes balanced. There’s a sharp acidity upfront that whams into bitter tannins on the finish. In between you get suggestions of lime or stone fruit or whatever. It’s a beer-wine hybrid of sorts, but I don’t think the grapes are really the stars, Four Play is all about the yeasts the bacterium, the fermentation. It’s real nice, and doesn’t have me reaching for peptic relief.
