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.
-
Duncan's Brewing$11.50
Duncan's Passionfruit & Lime Ice Cream Sour shows just how versatile beer can be! Get ready to bend your mind and your taste buds as you smash ...
View full details$11.50Sale -
Garage Project$16.99
A unique and delicious blend of barrel aged spontaneously fermented beer infused with rarely seen Blood Peaches, sourced from a number of small orc...
View full details$16.99Sold out -
Garage Projectfrom $6.50
Willkommen to the cabaret! This delicious tart fruited berliner weisse is loaded with raspberry and aromatic hibiscus flowers creating a stunningly...
View full detailsfrom $6.50Sold out -
Duncan's Brewingfrom $10.99
We're sending it, with this purple prince of beers, 250gm/l of sour cherries, raspberries and boysenberries, make this sour a touch tart, a bit swe...
View full detailsfrom $10.99Sold out -
Urbanaut Brewing Co$9.99
This refreshing Gose is infused with Horopito and Kawakawa, two of Aotearoa's most beautiful and sought after native herbs. Widely used in Rongoa o...
View full details$9.99Sold out -
Urbanaut Brewing Co$10.50
Charge your glass - this beer is a toast to hot days and late sunsets, with sweet notes of tropical fruit punch followed by a juicy, citrus tartnes...
View full details$10.50Sold out -
Duncan's Brewing$12.99
A classic Tiki inspired sorbet sour. Lime juice, tangerine, blood orange, molasses, and orgeat almond syrup. All gently dry hopped with Cascade. *...
View full details$12.99Sold out -
8 Wired Brewing Co.from $11.50
A tasty blend of hops and ripe blackcurrants deliver juicy and tart notes, while live cultures create a natural sour pop, we then dry hop with a he...
View full detailsfrom $11.50Sold out -
Garage Project$33.99
The latest release in our ongoing series of foraged flower and fruit beers. The concept is simple. Freshly picked Feijoa flowers are plunged into a...
View full details$33.99Sold out -
Deep Creek Brewing Co.from $9.99
Feijoa is an iconic NZ fruit. Originally from South America and known as the pineapple guava, we blend this with sweet pear to balance the feijoa a...
View full detailsfrom $9.99Sold out -
Garage Project$32.99
Literally ‘forest bathing’ in Japanese, Shinrin-yoku is the calming and rejuvenative act of walking slowly through a forest, allowing the senses to...
View full details$32.99Sold out -
Duncan's Brewingfrom $11.50
Part of our dessert style sour beer range. This ripple edition hits you with a double helping of boysenberries, followed up with a light chocolate ...
View full detailsfrom $11.50Sold out -
8 Wired Brewing Co.from $10.50
A tasty blend of hops and ripe blackberrys deliver juicy dark fruit flavours, while live cultures create a natural thirst quenching sour pop which ...
View full detailsfrom $10.50Sold out -
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...
View full detailsfrom $5.99Sold out -
Urbanaut Brewing Co$10.99
Beer Blender Tangelo Hazy IPA 6.2% x Champagne IPA 7.5% - 2 x 250ml Cans A cocktail-inspired Beer Blender! 1 x 250ml can of juicy Tangelo Hazy IP...
View full details$10.99Sold out -
Urbanaut Brewing Co$10.99
Beer Blender Coconut Hazy IPA x Queen Pineapple Sour - 2 x 250ml Cans A cocktail-inspired Beer Blender! 1 x 250ml can of creamy Coconut Hazy IPA w...
View full details$10.99Sold out -
Urbanaut Brewing Co$10.99
Beer Blender Strawberry Hazy IPA 6% x Cucumber and Mint Sour 5% - 2 x 250ml Cans A cocktail-inspired Beer Blender! 1 x 250ml can of juicy Strawberr...
View full details$10.99Sold out -
8 Wired Brewing Co.from $9.99
8 Wired have remixed the love child of a Berliner Weisse and an IPA with a crate load of local, organically grown tangelos and limes. American and ...
View full detailsfrom $9.99Sold out -
Garage Project$33.99
The latest release in our ongoing series of foraged flower and fruit beers. The concept is simple. Freshly foraged wild blackberry flowers are plun...
View full details$33.99Sold out -
Garage Project$59.99
The ultimate expression of Wild Workshop’s inner city terroir. An artful blend of three years’ worth of 100% spontaneously fermented beer, brewed w...
View full details$59.99Sold out -
Deep Creek Brewing Co.from $9.50
This sexy Bahama mama brings you the true taste of the tropics, with it two biggest flavours, mango and coconut, blended beautifully over the natur...
View full detailsfrom $9.50Sold out -
Garage Project$19.99
The concept of Wabi Sabi is is hard to define. It is natural simplicity - flawed beauty - the way imperfection can make an object more compelling. ...
View full details$19.99Sold out -
8 Wired Brewing Co.from $9.99
We've remixed this lovechild of a Berliner Weisse and an IPA with bushels of sweet Mandarins. Amercian and N.Z hops deliver juicy fruit flavours an...
View full detailsfrom $9.99Sold out -
8 Wired Brewing Co.from $6.99
When 8 Wired releases fruited sours, it's always a good idea to pay attention. This Hendrix inspired Kettle Sour is fermented on fresh apricots and...
View full detailsfrom $6.99Sold out -
Garage Project$39.99
A blend of barrel aged two year old spontaneous beer, infused with the finest Wakefield raspberries, sourced directly from the farm in the Tadm...
View full details$39.99Sold out -
Garage Project$39.99
A blend of barrel aged spontaneous beer, infused with sun ripened Clutha Gold apricots from the Webb Family’s 100 year old orchard outside Crom...
View full details$39.99Sold out -
Urbanaut Brewing Co$10.99
Beer Blender Rhubarb Saison 6.7% x Apple Crumble Sour 4% - 2 x 250ml Cans (Contains Lactose) Rhubarb Saison: Fresh and Juicy with a playful hint of...
View full details$10.99Sold out -
Chur (Behemoth) Brewing Co$11.99
This beer was inspired by Team Behemoth’s desire to mix things up over lockdown. In this edition of the margarita style gose, they’ve added a bunch...
View full details$11.99Sold out -
Urbanaut Brewing Co$10.99
Beer Blender Salted Caramel IPA x Baked Pear Sour 6% - 2 x 250ml Cans (Contains Lactose). Our latest release in the Beer Blender series! Salted Car...
View full details$10.99Sold out -
Garage Project$18.99
Out of the Woods - inspired by and infused with the New Zealand forest. A complex malt base accentuated with totara, rimu, and manuka, fermented in...
View full details$18.99Sold out -
Garage Project$36.99
Inspired by the Flanders Red style, this special sour ale is brewed using a generous portion of dark malts, then aged for an extended period in a m...
View full details$36.99Sold out -
Urbanaut Brewing Co$11.99
A balanced sour ale from the team at Urbanaut. Spritzy and vibrant, this is super refreshing salted lime sour. We don't recommend adding a shot of ...
View full details$11.99Sold out -
Garage Project$37.99
Three, itʼs the magic number. OTP - a special series of sours, each batch combining a trio of unusual ingredients based on the perfect principle of...
View full details$37.99Sold out