Wine 10 min

Sour Beer

On becoming bored with wine, Lambic, and the natural history of fermented things

I've become bored with wine. It's not wine's fault, it's just that as one learns more and more about a subject, eventually the blush comes off the rose. Fortunately my enthusiasm, my brain and my liver have all been rescued by beer. Specifically sour beer.

Most beers in history probably ended up sour eventually. Beer is a product of fermentation and as such is not immune to the natural forces that govern it. Kimchi, Sauerkraut, Yogurt, Doogh, Dosa, Kefir, Kenkey, Kombucha, Miso — most cultures have a healthy dose of funky probiotic critters in their cuisine. Thousands of years of sour beer and only in the last hundred or so have we cleaned it up and gotten rid of them.

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