Sour Beer
Sour has an intentionally acidic, tart or sour taste. The most common sour beer styles are Belgian: lambics, gueuze and Flanders red ale.
At one time, all beers were sour to some degree. As pure yeast cultures were not available, the starter used from one batch to another usually contained some wild yeast and bacteria. Unlike modern brewing, which is done in a sterile environment to guard against the intrusion of wild yeast, sour beers are made by intentionally allowing wild yeast strains or bacteria into the brew. Traditionally, Belgian brewers allowed wild yeast to enter the brew naturally through the barrels or during the cooling of the wort in a Koelschip open to the outside air – an unpredictable process that many modern brewers avoid.
The most common agents used to intentionally sour beer are Lactobacillus, Brettanomyces and Pediococcus. Another method for achieving a tart flavor is adding fruit during the aging process to spur a secondary fermentation or contribute microbes present on the fruit's skin.
Because of the uncertainty involved in using wild yeast, the sour beer brewing process is extremely unpredictable. The beer takes months to ferment and can take years to mature.
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Garage ProjectNo reviewsfrom $7.50
In Japan, during the briefest of seasonal windows, green yuzu on the cusp of ripeness is combined with crushed green chilli and salt, then fermente...
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Duncan's BrewingNo reviewsfrom $15.50
Duncan’s x Peckham’sA deliciously sticky Toffee Apple Pastry Sour beer, brewed with our good friends Peckham’s Cidery & Orchard. Toffee malt an...
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8 Wired Brewing Co.No reviewsfrom $15.00
A refreshing, light, hoppy, sour and very fruit salad tasting beer inspired by traditional Berliner Weisse ales but remixed with pineapple and haba...
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8 Wired Brewing Co.No reviewsfrom $11.00
Our Hippy Berliner was such a success that we ebbed to consumer demand and brewed a special edition with the addition of cooling cucumber. Bursting...
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Chur (Behemoth) Brewing CoNo reviewsfrom $5.50
Wasting away in Margaritaville, searching for my lost shaker of salt. This beer was inspired by our desire to mix things up over lock-down. New loc...
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Garage ProjectNo reviewsfrom $8.00
Beyond the Pale, a Garage tradition celebrating New Zealand’s own fantastic Fringe Festival with a very special avant garde offering. This year it’...
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Garage ProjectNo reviews$68.00
The ultimate expression of Wild Workshop’s inner city terroir. An artful blend of four years’ worth of 100% spontaneously fermented beer, aged i...
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8 Wired Brewing Co.$23.99
A sour ale brewed in the Belgian tradition. Aged in wine barrels, then refermented with pureed raspberries. Vibrant flavours of funk and fruit. Co...
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8 Wired Brewing Co.$42.99
A very special "Imperial Geuze" inspired blend of selected barrels from our library. One third each of spontaneously fermented 8, 6 and 4 year old ...
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Garage Project1 reviewfrom $6.50
Spicy Pickle Beer - Chilli Cucumber Dill Pickle Sour Turn up the heat at your pickle party. Pickle Beer, the Spicy edition! Naturally kettle sour...
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Duncan's BrewingNo reviewsfrom $13.00
A decadent and festive dessert beer; Sloe Choc Nut is jamming with rich pudding flavours. Sloe berries, chocolate, plum and hazelnut crumbs take yo...
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Garage ProjectNo reviews$13.00
Go on, treat yourself. Garage Project and Duck Island bring you Ambrosia Ice Cream Sour. Creamy lactose, oats, wheat, sour cherries, raspberries, m...
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Duncan's BrewingNo reviews$11.50
Squeezing the last out of summer, we bring you a double release fiesta of sangria inspired sour beers. This sangria blanca sorbet sour is refreshin...
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Duncan's BrewingNo reviews$11.50
Squeezing the last out of summer, we bring you a double release fiesta of sangria inspired sour beers. bursting with red grapes, boysenberries, apr...
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Garage ProjectNo reviewsfrom $7.00
Brewed with Kosher salt, Tomato, Lime Weird can be wonderful. T-Sauce is a Mexican Michelada inspired kettle sour, infused with chilli, lime, s...
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Chur (Behemoth) Brewing CoNo reviewsfrom $10.50
I turned myself into a pickle, Churly! Boom! Big reveal! I'm a pickle! Churly I need your help, we, we, we need to make a quick beer, (You said I d...
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Duncan's Brewingfrom $13.99
We’ve joined forces with the OGs of soft serve ice cream to bring you a double release collab combo. Tangy raspberry sherbet complemented with va...
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Garage Project$21.99
Natural wildflower fermentation. Freshly foraged cherry blossoms are immersed in a light golden wort, creating a spontaneous fermentation using onl...
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Garage Project$59.99
Single Barrel 205 Name: 1 to 1 Raspberry Ingredients: Barley Malt, Raw Barley, Raw Wheat, Aged Hops, Yeast, Water, Raspberries Date Filled: 30/...
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Garage ProjectNo reviews$11.50
Get ready for a good time. I Heart Blackberry & Nectarine; a fun fusion of blackberry and nectarine blended with a zesty foeder sour to create ...
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Garage Project$11.50
Go on, treat yourself. Garage Project and Duck Island bring you Lemon Poppyseed Ice Cream Sour. Creamy lactose, oats, wheat, poppy seeds and lemon ...
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Duncan's Brewing$12.50
Inspired by the New Orleans drive-thru daiquiri experience, where you treat yourself to a frozen daiquiri without leaving the comforts of your pick...
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Garage Project$15.50
Come along as we add another occult twist to the East Coast hazy frenzy! In a stunning union of sweet and sour, Vital Mesmerism combines a hazy dou...
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Duncan's Brewing$13.50
Collaboration with One Drop Brewing Co. For the first trans-Tasman collaboration in 2022, we brewed a triple fruited imperial gose with our awesom...
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Garage Project$5.99
Pineapple sour with a touch of hot chilli. A sparkling kettle sour that is incredibly refreshing, made with agave syrup, pineapple, and hot habaner...
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Duncan's Brewing$12.50
Plum and everything in between. This pastry sour is a gluttony of Black Doris plums, roasted almonds, coconut, vanilla & maple syrup. Breakfast...
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Garage Project$39.99
A combination of puncheon and foeder-aged beers that have been fermented using our own house culture and flavour-infused with sweet, luscious C...
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Duncan's Brewingfrom $11.99
Loaded with strawberries, marshmallows, a dash of chocolate & lactose. This dessert style sour beer is inspired by the ambrosia dessert - A kit...
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Garage Project$17.50
Created in collaboration with our near neighbours twenty-seven names, to celebrate the launch of their new clothing range it is what it is. Inspire...
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Garage Projectfrom $11.50
Any colour you like… a series of intensely colourful fruited sours taking inspiration from Resene’s catalogue of chromatic creations. This time aro...
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Urbanaut Brewing Co$12.50
The next release in our BEER BLENDER series - paired with the Strawberry Pavlova Sour. A crisp watermelon sour garnished with fresh lime and mint i...
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8 Wired Brewing Co.$24.99
This complex brown sour beer has been brewed in the traditional style of West Flanders, Belgium. Aged in large oak foudres (vats) for 18 Months, a ...
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Garage Project$16.99
Three, it’s the magic number. OTP - a special series of sours, each batch combining a trio of unusual ingredients based on the perfect principle of...
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Garage Project$16.99
Three, it’s the magic number. OTP - a special series of sours, each batch combining a trio of unusual ingredients based on the perfect principle of...
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Bach Brewingfrom $10.99
Over at Bach we've been on the hops again.. recollecting the lazy days on our family farm, picking and eating tree ripened juicy peaches. Brewed on...
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8 Wired Brewing Co.from $10.99
Ernest is a nod to one of our favourite sour cocktails. The classic Hemmingway Daiquiri. A kettle sour beer infused with grapefruit, Florida Key Li...
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8 Wired Brewing Co.from $6.50
A refreshing, light, hoppy, sour and very fruity tasting ale inspired by traditional Berliner Weisse ales.Naturally soured by live cultures and dry...
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Duncan's Brewingfrom $10.99
We’re bringing a classic American key lime pie to the Duncan’s bake sale. Jazzed up with a dash of coconut and vanilla. Straight from the Florida K...
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Deep Creek Brewing Co.from $5.99
Beer meets margarita! We've enhanced the natural zesty flavours of a traditional Gose style beer with additions of crushed dehydrated limes, bringi...
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Deep Creek Brewing Co.from $11.99
Let's Dance! Like it's dancing namesake, Mango Tango is a magical fusion of tropical flavours. Mango and Passionfruit form an elegant connection, e...
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Deep Creek Brewing Co.from $11.99
For decades the pineapple, or 'Piña', in Spanish, was South America's precious little secret.It's now famous sweetness blends sublimely with the vi...
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Deep Creek Brewing Co.from $11.99
Packed full of Blackberries, cherries and raspberries. Berrylicious is vibrant and juicy, with a perfect mix of sweet and sour berry flavours, bala...
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Duncan's Brewingfrom $10.99
Part of our dessert style sour beer range. Peach Ripple baby! Bursting with 250gm/L of juicy Golden Queen peaches, a good dose of lactose and a das...
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