Sour and wild beers are gaining popularity in the last few years. So, it makes sense that a lot of different breweries, from all over the world, are adding these types of beers to their selection. Beer Republic explains everything about these craft beers with their unique flavor!
The evolution of sour and wild beers
Sour beers can be traced back to the Belgium ‘lambics’ and ‘geuzen’. This type of beer is also called sour ale and not very well known, yet very old. Sour beers have only recently started to gain (more) popularity. More and more breweries are starting to brew sour beers.
Wild beer is created by spontaneous fermentation and is often kept in wooden barrels. This is the reason that you may taste different tones of wood while drinking this beer.
Fruit beers have a fresh and sweet taste. You can often recognize different types of fruit that are used during the brewing process. The bitter hop taste, also experienced with other beers, is less present. Traditionally, real fruits are added during the brewing process. This can be peach and cherry, but also apples, bananas and strawberries are added as ingredients. Nowadays, modern breweries only add fruit juices to their craft beers. This juice is added at the end of the brewing process. Fruit coulis or fruit extracts can also be used when brewing fruit beer. In general, fruit flavored beers have an alcohol percentage between 2.5 and 5.5%.
How does sour and wild beers taste?
Sour craft beer has a sour taste, as you probably already assumed because of the name. But how does this special flavor develop? The cause: two types of bacteria that are added during the brewing process: Lactobacillus and Pediococcus (love those names, right?). Thanks to both bacteria you can enjoy this unique sour flavor. And on top of that, spontaneous fermentation is also a part of the development of this type of beer. Fermentation can take years and relies on the natural organisms present in the environment or a beer’s ingredients.
You might think that the sour taste is overpowering, but many flavors can be recognized in sour beer. For example, cherries and vanilla are not unknown and are also part of the sour beer family. There are also sour beers to which milk has been added, which gives a kind of milkshake effect to the beer. #Shakeitup!
As already mentioned, fruit beers have a very recognizable sweet and fresh taste. In addition to the indication on the label, you can often taste which types of fruit have been used. Cherry beer is probably the first one that comes to mind, but peach, strawberries, apples, pineapple and even bananas can be part of the fruit beer family.
Different types of sour and wild beers
Nowadays you can find different types of sour, wild and fruit beers. Lambic is probably the most famous type from the Zenne valley. There are also American variations such as the American Wild. But there are also different beers that are aged in wooden barrels, also described as Oak Aged. Gose from Cologne is also a spontaneous fermentation beer. And don't be confused by the name Beliner Weizen, the name suggests that it is a white beer, but this is a very sour variant from Berlin!
Excited about these unique craft beers?
We can imagine that after reading all the information mentioned above, you have become very curious and excited about these types of beer! At Beer Republic you will find the greatest selection ofsour, wild and fruit beersand we highly recommend trying them all.
Do you want to try other beer styles? Than definitely check out our brown and dark beers or order a brewery pack to discover all kinds of beers in a box. The choice is yours!
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