Sour beers… how I love them. I’ve never been big on drinking (or brewing) sweet beers. Aside from the occasional Christmas beer or Russian Imperial Stout, I tend to gravitate towards the dryer side of beer. And then there are sour beers.

What I described the other day to someone as “Beer 301,” sour beer is a small niche in the craft beer world full of wild yeast, complex bacteria and spontaneous fermentations. And while “wet mildew,” “horse blanket,” and “rotten cherry pie” and not desired tasting notes to the everyday beer-drinker’s palate, they were just the types of flavors we were looking for at this past weekend’s April Sours event at Jimmy’s No. 43

View this gallery or click any image to view full sizeGALLERY: View all April Sours Photos

April Sours was basically a crash course in wild beers. From Brussel’s quintessential Brasserie Cantillon Brouwerij to American wild beer forunners Allagash and Jolly Pumpkin, five countries and over two dozen beers were represented (alongside much needed snack bites from Jimmy’s Kitchen.) The beers ranged from delicate and inviting Montegioco Quarta Runa – a peach beer with subtle sour notes – to the abrasively puckerish Hanssens Oud Geueze.

The best offerings fell somewhere in between. Our favorite was Cantillon’s Cuvee des Champions, an oak-aged, unblended lambic dry-hopped with Styrian Goldings. While its subtle aromas of mint and black pepper were not translated to the palate, the oak and hops added a nice complexity to the acidic backbone of unripened raspberries, lemon rind and wet spices. Another favorite was the BFM Abbaye de Saint Bon Chien Grand Cru Edition. BFM has been hit or miss with me lately as a lot of my bottles have been completely lacking in carbonation but the Grand Cru – their flagship beer – never disappoints. Less sour than the Cantillons, the Abbaye de Saint Bon Chien is incredibly vinous with lot of green grape, sour apple and pear notes. There is a subtle spice and a bit of caramel as well but the dominant player is sour fruits. If you have a refined wine drinker that you are looking to convert, this may be the bottle to do it.

The American showings were equally as strong although less assertive in their acidity. Our favorite – in part due to its balanced level of tartness – was the Allagash Vrienden, a limited collaboration brew with Colorado’s New Belgium Brewery. Brewed with wild yeasts from both breweries, Dandelions greens and elderberries, Vrienden was slightly acidic, mildly earthy, and filled with mango and papaya notes. Also notable was Jolly Pumpkins La Roja, an oak-aged and blended Flanders Red ale that exhibited the most balanced complexity I’ve tasted in a Jolly Pumpkin beer.

We were sad that a few of the listed beers did not show up at the event (at least not while we were there) as we were looking forward to trying some of the more obscure offerings such as Hanssens Experimental Raspberry and De Dolle Oerbier Reserva as well as revisiting some old favorites such as the Montegioco Bran Reserva. But with a list of this magnitude, our disappointment was quickly distinguished with another glass of the Cuvee des Champions.

If you missed April Sours then be sure to join Jimmy’s no. 43 on April 28th as they celebrate the 30th anniversary of Belgian beer importers Vanberg & DeWulf.

RELATED LINKS:
Maggie Hoffman covers April Sours over on Serious Eats:Drinks
View our April Sours gallery

Brewery: Nogne O, Jolly Pumpkin and Stone Brewing Co.
Vintage: 2009 vintage brewed at Nogne O in Grimstad, Norway
Style: Christmas Ale, Winter Warmer
ABV: 8.5%
IBU: 50
Availability: unknown frequency, November – January
Pairing: butternut squash soup, beef stew, roasted chestnuts

I love brewer collaborations. It’s a great example of what the brewing community is all about and it often takes the best of each brewers skills and combines them into something greater. Stone Brewing Co. has been on a similar kick with their Collaboration Series, traveling around the world and joining forces with renowned breweries such as Brew Dog, Mikkeller, and Ale Smith to bring their unprecedented technical knowledge to new and exciting concoctions. For Special Holiday Ale (now in its second vintage) they’ve teamed up with the sour beer loving jokers over at Jolly Pumpkin (Michigan) and style pushers at Nogne O (Grimstad, Norway) to create a holiday crew that combines local ingredients from all three regions – California white sage, Michigan chestnuts, and Norwegian juniper berries. The result is a medium bodied winter ale thats much more drinkable then a lot of the strong beers floating around this season. Perfectly balanced, I’ve been hunting this one for a while and glad to see if found it’s way to my glass!

Appearance: Pours the deepest brown imaginable, almost black. Rich, frothy tan head leaves a nice creamy lacing on the side of the glass. Notes of excellent craftsmanship right off the bat.

Smell: There’s tons of spice and herbs on the nose of this one. Lots of the sage, juniper, allspice and chestnuts come through without too much malt character.

Taste: The Rye used in brewing really stands out giving a good, grainy character along with some roasted barley malt balance. It tastes dark and woodsy with a piney, peppery finish.

Mouthfeel: A refreshing medium body for a holiday beer. There is well calculated carbonation behind this and it goes down easy leaving a nice spice tingle on my tongue.

Drinkability: Very drinkable for a winter warmer. The medium body and balanced spice hide the alcohol and makes this one easy going. Well, easy going for an 8.5% dark, spicy beer.

Overall: Take one of the world most practical brewers, one of its most adventurous, and one of its most technical, and give them a Santa’s sack of local ingredients to play with. The result is Special Holiday Ale, a winter take on all the things going right in brewing today. I could easily drink two or three of these over a night, especially after an icy commute home or a long day on the slopes. I’ll be picking a few more up to share at Christmas dinner!

Brewing Note: Special Holiday ale was first brewed in April 2008 at Stone’s facility. This version was brewed this past July at Nogne O’s facility. The beer uses the same ingredients as the original: white sage from Southern California, chestnuts from Michigan and juniper berries from Norway. The differences in brewing and aging may have lead to a slightly different beer though. (source)