Sour Power

few months back, with Calgary-based Dandy Brewing and Lacombe-based Blindman Brewing joining forces. This was not quite a merger or an acquisition, more of a strategic partnership, with Blindman obtaining a minority stake in Dandy, and providing a much-needed expansion in brewing capacity for Dandy out of the Lacombe facility.
I remember both Blindman and Dandy coming onto the local scene a decade ago, and Dandy has always produced excellent craft brews, but struggled with distribution outside of the local Calgary market. Blindman brings a stronger distribution network across the province, so will be taking the lead on production and distribution out of their larger brewing facility in Lacombe, letting Dandy focus on their small batch and one-off artisanal creations for the taproom.
Blindman has been a pioneer of sour beer styles since their inception, so this new partnership might even see a few collaborations and sour beers coming out of the Dandy taproom in Calgary. For those not familiar with the style, sour beers have an intentionally acidic or sour taste due to the introduction of certain yeasts or bacterial cultures during the fermentation process.
My first exposure to sour beers was more than a decade ago, before Blindman or Dandy had appeared on the local beer scene, while vacationing in Belgium, also known as the beeriest place on earth, with over 500 distinct beer styles calling Belgium home, most of which are entirely unfamiliar in North America.
Lambics are perhaps the most common sour beer style from Belgium, produced along a 100km stretch of the Senne Valley, with the eponymous River Senne flowing through the center of Brussels, making it an important transportation route in centuries past.
Lambic beers are fermented with naturally occurring airborne yeasts, so may differ from batch to batch. The particular airborne yeast strain used to ferment Lambic beers is called Bretanomyces Bruxenellensis, and occurs naturally only in the Senne Valley near Brussels, making this a highly regional beer style.
The taste of Lambic beer can be off-putting to the novice beer drinker, particularly those raised on a steady diet of Coors Lite. While the wild airborne yeasts can make the taste vary widely from one batch to the next, the primary flavour of a Lambic is one of sour fruit and spice.
To make the sour taste more palatable, the beer will be aged, then blended in equal parts from barrels aged for one, two, and three years prior to bottling.
The youngest barrel in the blend will still contain live yeast, so a secondary fermentation occurs in the bottle, which provides extra depth and complexity, leading to flavours of rich dried fruit.
While Lambics have been exported the world over, with many examples available here in Alberta, the limited region that the yeast is available can make Lambics hard to find.
Lacking that magical Belgian yeast here in Alberta, our locally produced sour beers tend to be kettle soured, meaning a carefully measured sample of the same lactobacillus bacteria found in yoghurt is added to the brew kettle before boiling the wort. The bacteria is killed during the boiling process, leaving behind a tart and sour flavour that can be controlled by the attentive brewmaster.
Blindman Brewing in Lacombe has long been producing sour beers in addition to their other offerings, with the Dry Hopped Kettle Sour available year-round. The pH level has been precisely controlled for just the right amount of tartness, with loads of aromatic hops added near the end of the boil giving citrus and tropical notes on the nose.
A little closer to home, Origin Malting & Brewing in Strathmore have put out a few seasonal sour brews, most recently the Berry Sour Series as their summer seasonal, which is being retired as autumn approaches, but may make another appearance as the seasons change. I enjoyed more than a few on their patio over the past few months, made from a wild yeast strain in the fermenters, mixed with a bit of lactobacillus in the kettle to produce an ale with strong notes of crabapple and sour cherry. If you missed them this year, look for similar styles to appear again next summer.
If you would like to give sour beers a try, ask your friendly neighbourhood booze merchant for advice, or visit one of our many fine local brewers.