Five on Five

pucker, consider If you’re a sucker for the

sour beers. brewer-recommended seeking out these

Compiled by Emily Hutto

Cory King

and Artisan Ales; Co-owner Head Brewer at Perennial

St. Louis, Missouri Brewer at Side Project Brewing,

is my favorite. The classic Drie Fonteinen Oude Geuze

blenders and one from the best geuze just can’t be beat, blending

thing of beauty. Armand’s (in my opinion) is just a

is—lively, bright, and balanced represents what geuze

pinnacle of lambic brewing with earth and depth, the and blending.

Luke Holgate

Gabe Toth

North Hi-wire Brewing, Asheville, Head Brewer at Carolina

to be Petrus Aged Pale from My favorite sour beer has

This beer is clean and crisp Brouwerij De Brabandere.

that doesn’t allow with a light body, a combination

drinker unnoticed. The many flaws to get by the

is nothing for flaws to hide light malt bill means there

its own subtle flavor to the behind. Every barrel adds

difficult. The brewer beer, which can make blending

he or she is tasting and how has to know exactly what

a of flavors consistently from to get that combination

the an impressive skill, and variety of barrels. That is

have an incredible palate. creator of this beer must

Mexico Brewing, Santa Fe, New Lead Brewer at Santa Fe

few of us favorite sour beer, but a It’s impossible to pick a Crooked

bottle of Progenitor from recently shared a fantastic at

to us courtesy of our buddies Stave in Denver, sent sour

of Denver. This dry-hopped Comrade Brewing, also they complemented

of funk and acidity that ale has a nice, dry base

of fruity, citrusy dry hops. with a layer

Joe Mashburn

Night Shift Brewing, Everett, Production Manager at Massachusetts

is an amazingly complex The Ale Apothecary’s Sahalie

a mixture of pitched, cultured sour resulting from

fermentation that spends yeast and open top

in oak (his mash tun is an the vast majority of its life

conditioned to champagne-like old puncheon!) and is bottle

The result is an amazingly levels of CO2.

that moves the sour-beer vibrant and lively beer

The complementary category toward balance.

are structured around sweet flavors within the beer

is a be seen more as wine. It oakiness, forcing beer to

of what beer can be. truly amazing example

Jay Goodwin

The Rare of Blending & Brewing at Cofounder and Director Barrel, Berkeley, California

taken is so great that it’s almost Russian River sour beer most

How do you execute the for granted at this point. consistency?

in beer with that level of complex fermentation beer is

I hope to one day. Each I don’t know, but

my favorite of the bunch. great, but Temptation is