If you’re new to beer, or you don’t branch out much beyond lagers and the like, you might not fully understand what a sour beer is. Don’t worry. As usual, we’re here to help. In order to do that, though, we have to start at the beginning. Take a moment to visualise a sour beer. What do you think it looks like? What do you imagine it smells like? Now how about the flavour? Well, chances are, your imagination is correct. Sour, fruity, tart, sometimes funky, sour beers are a unique beer style that deserves your attention.
Table of contents
- Best Sour Beers
- 1. Almanac Peach Sournova
- 2. The Grifter Brewing Co Pink Galah Lemonade Sour
- 3. Bentspoke Brewing Co How’s It Gosen
- 4. Wayward Brewing Co. Raspberry Berliner Weisse
- 5. Batch Brewing Co. Pash The Magic Dragon
- 6. Young Henrys B-Side Sun Is Shining Sour
- 7. Bellwoods Jelly King Raspberry & Peach
- 8. Rodenbach Grand Cru
- 9. Yulli’s Bloody Mary Sour
- 10. Freshwater Stay Salty Passionfruit Gose
- What is a Sour Beer?
- Alternatives to Sour Beers
- How We Chose the Best Sour Beers
- More Beer Choices
- Sour Beer FAQs
Best Sour Beers
While you could spend half the day walking the aisles at your local beer store or perusing online retailers looking for proverbial sour, tart diamonds in the rough, we did the work for you. We picked 10 of our favourite funky, tart, sweet, highly drinkable sour beers. Keep scrolling to see them all and finally quench that seemingly unquenchable beer thirst.
1. Almanac Peach Sournova
This 5.8 per cent ABV sour ale from the folks at California’s Almanac Beer is aged in oak barrels with peaches and vanilla beans. Unlike many popular sour beers, this one isn’t a kettle sour. It’s a naturally fermented, mixed-culture sour ale that spends months aging with vanilla beans and California-grown peaches. The result is a tart, sweet, juicy, lightly acidic beer you’ll want to go back to again and again.
Brand: Almanac Beer Co.
Release: Peach Sournova
ABV: 5.8%
Region: California
Price: USD$19.99 – 4-Pack
Buy it here (Beer Cartel) Buy it here (Almanac Beer Co.)
Buy it here (Saccharomyces Beer Cafe)
2. The Grifter Brewing Co Pink Galah Lemonade Sour
We love a frosty beer on a hot day and we also enjoy a glass of tart, refreshing lemonade. Who wouldn’t want to enjoy the two together, right? Well, the brewers at The Grifter Brewing Co. realised this and created their Pink Galah Lemonade Sour. It’s a pink lemonade sour that gets a secondary fermentation with raspberries and lemon juice. This results in a berry-filled, tart, citrus, acidic beer you’ll crave every sunny day.
Brand: The Grifter Brewing Co
Release: Pink Galah Lemonade Sour
ABV: 4.7%
Region: New South Wales
Price: AUD$85 – 24-Pack
Buy it here (Beer Cartel) Buy it here (The Grifter)
3. Bentspoke Brewing Co How’s It Gosen
This humorously named Gose-style beer comes from the brewers at Bentspoke. This 4 per cent ABV, highly sessionable Gose was first brewed as a tropical Gose with mango and passionfruit, while the current version is made with real cherries. It’s sour, lightly salty, and has the flavour of sweet cherries. It gets this flavour profile from souring using Bentspoke’s proprietary lactic acid.
Brand: Bentspoke Brewing Co
Release: How’s It Gosen
ABV: 4.0%
Region: Australian Capital Territory
Price: AUD$18 – 4-Pack
Buy it here (Bentspoke Brewing)Buy it here (Liquorland)
4. Wayward Brewing Co. Raspberry Berliner Weisse
Another sessionable number, the 3.8 per cent ABV Berliner Weisse was once referred to by the moniker of “Sourpuss”. We’re glad they changed the name because this classic take on the German style is known for its ripe raspberry flavours working in unison with tart acid, all with a nice, sweet, crisp finish. It’s raspberry perfection in every sip.
Brand: Wayward Brewing Co.
Release: Raspberry Berliner Weisse
ABV: 3.8%
Region: New South Wales
Price: AUD$19.99 – 4-Pack
Buy it here (Dan Murphy’s) Buy it here (Wayward Brewing Co.)
5. Batch Brewing Co. Pash The Magic Dragon
We all know Puff the Magic Dragon, but who knows Pash the Magic Dragon? Well, everyone should. Flaked wheat, barley, lactic acid-filled sour wort, passionfruit, and (not surprisingly) dragon fruit make this a tart, sweet, funky, acidic beer worthy of you or any gigantic, fire-breathing reptiles in your life.
Brand: Batch Brewing Co.
Release: Pash The Magic Dragon
ABV: 4.5%
Region: New South Wales
Price: AUD$22.99 – 4-Pack
Buy it here (Dan Murphy’s) Buy it here (Batch Brewing Co.)
6. Young Henrys B-Side Sun Is Shining Sour
This 4 per cent ABV sour beer from Young Henry’s was brewed with Gladfield Lager Light, Gladfield Wheat malt, and Gladfield Chit malt, as well as Flex, Sorachi Ace, and Sabro hops. It gets its sweet, fruity, tart flavour from the use of “Philly Sour Yeast strain” as well as watermelon and Mandarin oranges. It’s a lightly bitter, crisp, refreshingly tart beer perfect for any time of year.
Brand: Young Henrys
Release: B-Side Sun Is Shining Sour
ABV: 4.0%
Region: New South Wales
Price: AUD$26.49 – 4-Pack
Buy it here (Dan Murphy’s) Buy it here (Young Henrys)
7. Bellwoods Jelly King Raspberry & Peach
This 5.6 per cent sour ale from Canadian brewers Bellwoods is touted as a dry-hopped sour ale with fruit. Brewed with both raspberries and peaches and fermented with lactic acid, this beer is a mixture of tart, sour fruit, and bright hops. This limited-edition offering is truly a unique sour beer that needs to be tasted to be believed.
Brand: Bellwoods Brewery
Release: Jelly King Raspberry & Peach
ABV: 5.6%
Region: Toronto
Price: CAD$15 – 4-Pack
Buy it here (Beer Cartel) Buy it here (Bellwoods Brewery)
8. Rodenbach Grand Cru
No list of sour beers is complete without Rodenbach. Specifically, Rodenback Grand Cru. This 7 per cent ABV Belgian classic is a blend of a Flanders red ale. One-third of the beer is young and the other two-thirds was matured for a minimum of two years in large oak vats. The result is a funky, tart, lightly acidic, fruity, sparkling wine-like beer you’ll want to save for a special occasion, but you’ll likely crack open and drink with your mates instead.
Brand: Rodenbach
Release: Grand Cru
ABV: 6.0%
Region: Belgium
Price: AUD$160 – 24-Pack
Buy it here (Dan Murphy’s) Buy it here (Heron Beverages)
9. Yulli’s Bloody Mary Sour
Sure, the most common flavours associated with sour beers are a variety of fruits, but this beer is a sour take on the classic hangover cure. Yulli’s Bloody Mary is a sour ale that tastes like a bloody Mary thanks to the addition of chillis, hot sauce, and tomato juice. It’s sour, sweet, and perfect for breakfast (if you’re into that sort of thing).
Brand Yulli’s Brews
Release: Bloody Mary Sour
ABV: 4.5%
Region: New South Wales
Price: AUD$19.99 – 4-Pack
Buy it here (Local Drinks Collective) Buy it here (Yulli’s)
10. Freshwater Stay Salty Passionfruit Gose
This salty, sweet, tart, highly sessional 3.5 per cent Gose-style beer is part of the brewery’s fresh fruit series. This version gets its tropical fruit flavour from the addition of passionfruit. The result is a sweet, memorable passionfruit flavour as well as a light tartness and a clean, crisp, dry finish.
Brand: Freshwater Brewing Co.
Release: Stay Salty Passionfruit Gose
ABV: 3.5%
Region: New South Wales
Price: AUD$28.99 – 4-Pack
What is a Sour Beer?
In the most basic terms, a sour beer is exactly as it seems. It’s a beer that has a tart, often times sour flavour profile. It’s crafted to be acidic and sometimes has an earthy, funky flavour as well. While many contemporary beers are simply listed as “sour beers” or “sour ales”, traditional sours include Flanders red ales, Gose-style beers, Berliner weisses, lambics, and gueuzes.
You might think this doesn’t seem anything like the classic “beer” aroma and flavour of your favourite lager, pilsner, or even IPA and you’d be right. But how exactly do you go from the classic beer taste of a lager to a sour beer? It’s all about the souring process.
While many sour beers have fruit flavours like raspberry, cherry, lime, and even tropical fruit, the funk and acidity come from fermentation with acid-creating bacteria like lactobacillus. This creates the tart, acidic, mouth-puckering flavours and aromas drinkers expect in a great sour beer.
While that’s enough, many brewers also add various complimentary hops (many are even dry-hopped to add aroma and flavour without extra hop bitterness) as well as fruits like oranges, cherries, peaches, raspberries, blueberries, and tropical fruit flavours.
The best, most exciting aspect of sour beers is the varying flavour profiles. Depending on the yeast, hops, and fruits added they can range from funky, yeasty, and earthy to sour, tart, and fruity.
If that didn’t pique your interest, perhaps you’d like to know that sours are often lower in alcohol than many other beer styles. Also, the tart, acidic, sour, and sometimes (we’re looking at you Gose) salty flavour profile is well suited for hot, humid, sunny days. But, the complex, lactic flavour works well any time of year.
How is a Sour Made?
Obviously, with so many different styles and production methods, it’s difficult to pin down a specific way of brewing a sour beer. But generally, you can count on the process beginning with complimentary hops being added to the kettle boil. After cooling, the wort is ready for the secondary fermentation where yeast and live bacteria will be added. When and how the bacteria is added also depends on the style of sour beer. Some beer is now aged in wood barrels or vats.
Some are even fermented in open vessels to allow natural, wild yeasts and bacteria to add funk and flavour. Fermentation isn’t an overnight process. In order to gain the unique flavours and characteristics, brewers (and eventually drinkers) may have to wait months for the lactic acid, sour, and tart flavours to be created.
What Makes a Beer Sour?
As mentioned above, the sour flavour comes from various yeasts and wild bacteria. This is what creates the iconic sour, tart, acidic, biting flavour profile sour beer drinkers look forward to. The most common bacteria is Lactobacillus. This gives the beer the lactic acid taste. Other bacteria include (but aren’t limited to) Brettanomyces, Pediococcus, and Saccharomyces. The best part? These microbes might actually be good for your gut health. You can finally tell your doctor (and though they probably won’t believe you) that you’re drinking for your health.
Alternatives to Sour Beers
If the funky, often tart flavours of sour beers haven’t piqued your interest, why not check out our coverage on the other exciting types of beer.
- Best New England IPAs
- Most Popular Beer Types and Styles, Explained
- Best Wheat Beers to Try Right Now
- Best Pilsner Beers to Drink Right Now
- Complete Guide to Beer Glasses
- Complete Guide to Beer Types
- Best Low-Carb Beers
- Best German Beers To Drink Now
- Best Session Ales For Summer
How We Chose the Best Sour Beers
With more than 10 years of experience reviewing beer, wine and spirits, Man of Many’s team of editors has selected a list of the best sour beers across the country. The list puts quality over quantity, with menus filled with Berliners, Weisses, Raspberry and Watermelon sour flavours. Additionally, author Christopher Osburn has more than 15 years of experience writing about alcohol and lifestyle topics across the globe. As our resident drinks expert, Chris is the perfect person to unpack these fruity flavours.
In addition to tasting every beer on this list, we also turned to the wider public for their overall ratings. Our list takes into account three major perspectives to determine the overall rating. In addition to our own opinions, we take into account reviews via alcohol retailer Dan Murphys and the Australian drinks forums such as Untappd and Beer Advocate. Each sour beer identified in the list was measured on:
- Flavour profile
- Value for money
- Appearance
Interested in more Beer Related Stories? Here are a few to get you started:
More Beer Choices
Best Beers According to Strength
- 20 Best Non-Alcoholic Beers to Drink Right Now
- 23 Best Australian Mid-Strength Beers
- Snake Venom is the World’s Strongest Beer at 67.5% ABV
Best Craft Beers
- 100 Best Craft Beers in Australia Have Been Named
- 13 Best Home Brew Kits for the Craft Beer Lover
- 10 Aussie Craft Beers to Add to Your Bar Fridge
Best Craft Breweries
- 23 Best Craft Breweries in Brisbane
- 25 Best Craft Breweries in Melbourne
- 20 Best Craft Breweries in Australia
You’ll also like:
- Most Popular Types of Beer Explained: A Complete Guide
- 5 Beer Glass Sizes in Australia Explained
- 17 Best Australian Beer Blogs
- 6 Best Beer Subscription Services in Australia
Sour Beer FAQs
Sour beers are tart, sour, acidic, sometimes funky beers made by fermentation with yeast and wild bacteria. It’s a beer style that has many subsets including Flanders red ales, Gose-style beers, Berliner weisses, lambics, gueuzes, as well as simple “sour beers”. To add another dimension, sour beers are often brewed with various fruits like passionfruit, mango, guava, raspberries, peaches, and citrus fruits.
Sour beers are made by fermentation with yeast and wild bacteria. There’s a lot more to it and the process changes based on the particular style, but this is the basic, simplistic process. It gives it the sometimes funk, always acidic, tart, sour flavour fans of this style relish.
Like a sparkling wine, sour beers are the perfect complement to many foods. Strong, flavourful cheese like extra sharp cheddar, goat, cheese, blue cheese, and gorgonzola pair well. Seafood, particularly clams, oysters, and other mollusks make flavourful accompaniments. Creamy, cheesy dishes, and cured meats like ham and bacon also work well with sour beers. All in all, if your food has a strong, maybe even stinky flavour, it probably pairs well with at least some version of sour beer.
