One of the biggest misconceptions about sour beer is that it’s one style. It isn’t. It’s a family of beers connected by one characteristic: acidity. Some are light, crisp, and gently tart. Others burst with peaches, passion fruit, raspberries, or citrus. Some are brewed with coriander and sea salt. Others spend years resting in oak, developing layers of cherry, vanilla, earthiness, and funk. The common thread is bright acidity. And that’s exactly what makes them perfect for summer.
So why do they work in summer? Think about the flavors we crave when temperatures climb: lemonade, citrus, watermelon, fresh fruit. They’re all bright, refreshing, and driven by acidity. Sour beers work the same way. Their lively acidity refreshes your palate instead of weighing it down. Berliner Weisses and Goses, in particular, tend to be lower in alcohol and remarkably thirst-quenching, making them ideal for patios, concerts, baseball games, and afternoons by the pool.
Personally, I stumbled onto sour beer about a decade ago, thanks to Mercator, Urban Chestnut Brewing Company’s Flemish sour ale. Since then, I’ve spent years talking with brewers and writing about the remarkable sour beer programs they’ve built across the St. Louis area. Such St. Louis breweries as Alpha Brewing Company and Modern Brewery helped expand the conversation around sour beer locally, but they’re hardly alone. From fruited kettle sours, sour IPAs, and barrel-aged mixed-fermentation ales, breweries across the region have embraced nearly every corner of the style…