Photo courtesy of Belt Line Brewery
Tart, funky, sour, wild – all flavors you’ve surely experienced if you’ve ever drank a sour beer worth its salt (gose pun!). Wait, what’s that? You’ve never had a sour beer? Seriously? No worries, there is no time like the present, especially with Sour Beer Day on the horizon on Friday, September 20. And if you are one of the few who have never experienced a mouth-puckering tart treat, you’re in luck because the Western New York beer scene is rife with the sour stuff. If you’re looking for something funky to fill your glass, then here is where you need to look and what you need to look for – on Sour Beer Day and otherwise.
Advertisement
Pro Tip: Buffalo Beer Week presents a number of chances for you to wet your whistle with great sour beer. Mr. Goodbar and Coles are jointly presenting the first ever Funky Fruity Friday on Sept. 20 (5pm), where you can enjoy a selection of session, fruity and barrel aged sours at both bars. The same day, New York Beer Project’s Funk Fest takes place, featuring a great lineup of their favorite sour beers plus new ones, including four new Berliner Weisse variants, two new sours and the re-release of four past sour favorites.
1. 12 Gates Brewing / Community Beer Works Resting Peach Face
80 Earhart Dr, Williamsville / 906-6600 / 12gatesbrewing.com
The cleverly titled Resting Peach Face is highly crushable peach juice. Seriously. That’s what it is. And to make things even better, it’s a quite sessionable brew at 4.4% and it’s now available in cans! (Available: cans (September 16), draft)
2. 42 North Brewing Company Island Sour Farmhouse
25 Pine St, East Aurora / 805-7500 / 42northbrewing.com
This award-winning sour (it won the inaugural People’s Choice Award at the 2018 Buffalo Brewers Festival) has notes of tropical fruit (guava, passionfruit and orange) with a touch of hops and spice for balance. See also: Halt, Who Gose There? (Available: draft)
3. Belt Line Brewery Lawn Ornament Series #1: Flock of Flamingos
545 Swan St, Buffalo / 402-1756 / belt-linebrewing.com
In case you haven’t heard, Belt Line is doing some nice things in the sour realm, Flock of Flamingos, the first entry in their Lawn Ornament Series, being the latest one. This is a tart and fruity blend of pomegranate, blood orange and tangerine that you need in your life. See also: Double Brunch Sour. (Available: draft)
Photo courtesy of Buffalo Beer League
4. Ellicottville Brewing Oops! All Berries
28 Monroe St, Ellicottville / 699-2537 / ellicottvillebrewing.com
I’ll admit that I wasn’t a fan of this beer when it was first released, but this latest iteration, made with fresh raspberries, blueberries, and blackberries from Awald Farms in North Collins, has it tasting much brighter and far more refreshing. It features a big berry kick and mildly tartness. (Available: cans, draft)
5. Froth Brewing Mango-Peach OG
700 Military Rd, Buffalo / 783-8060 / frothbrewing.com
Conditioned on toasted coconut, lemon zest, mango and peach purée, Mango-Peach OG is as luscious as it sounds. Huge mango and peach with a subtle underpinning of flaked coconut. Froth makes a number of killer sour beers, so you should try them all, but if you can only try one, seek this out. (Available: draft)
Advertisement
6. Hamburg Brewing Blood Orange Is The New Sour
6553 Boston State Rd, Hamburg / 649-3249 / hamburgbrewing.com
Blood orange, passionfruit, mango, lactose, sea salt and coriander. If you didn’t know, those are all good words. Hamburg’s latest sour creation features light tartness and acidity, so you don’t have to pack your Tums when you visit the brewery. (Available: draft)
Photo courtesy of Froth Brewing
7. New York Beer Project Pink Lemonade Sour
6933 S Transit Rd, Lockport / 743-6927 / nybeerproject.com
Brewed with fresh lemon zest and juice, Mosaic and Huell Melon hops and finished with a blend of raspberry and strawberry puree, NYBP’s Pink Lemonade Sour is light and refreshing just like lemonade should be. (Available: draft (Sept. 20))
8. Pressure Drop Brewing / 12 Gates Beyond Neptune
65 Vandalia St, Buffalo / 848-9942 / pressuredropbrewers.com
Beyond Neptune features a pleasant mouth-pucker with big sweet plum and juicy apricot notes. It’s truly crushable, refreshing and smooth, which should be music to your palate’s ears. (Available: cans, draft)
Advertisement
9. Resurgence Brewing Company Pina Colada Sour
1250 Niagara St, Buffalo / 381-9868 / resurgencebrewing.com
55 Chicago St, Buffalo / 768-6018
This Kegs & Eggs standout is finally a standalone release and all sour fans are better off because of it. Resurgence’s Pina Colada Sour is a light and easy drinking blend of tart pineapple and coconut, and at 5% you don’t have to feel bad having a few. (Availability: cans, draft (Sept. 14))
Photo courtesy of Thin Man Brewery
10. Thin Man Brewery Minkey Boodle
492 Elmwood Ave, Buffalo / 923-4100 / thinmanbrewery.com
166 Chandler St, Buffalo / 393-4355
The argument could be made that Minkey is ‘Buffalo’s Sour Beer.’ First off all, it’s great (vibrant and jammy raspberry juice), second, it’s most often readily available, and third, it seems to get better with each batch. Grab some of this today. (Available: cans, draft)
11. West Shore Brewing Company Cucumber Mint Gose
10995 Main St., Clarence / 998-3752 / westshorebrewing.com
Looking for something a bit different? Try West Shore’s Cucumber Mint Gose. It features three pounds of mint, was conditioned on fresh cucumbers for two weeks, and then was fermented down to an almost champagne-like dryness for a light crisp and refreshing sour. (Availability: draft)
