Your new favourite craft beer - summer sours

This summer, you'll be seeing more sours on the shelves.

With a massive growth in the production and popularity of Australian beers over the last 2 to 3 years, local brewers have been putting out some excellent sours.

With this in mind, we went to our top beer guy Matt (say hi to him in our Alexandria store) and asked for his picks.

But first, what is a sour?

The origins of a sour can be traced back to first beers ever brewed, where wild yeast and spontaneous fermentation led to varying degrees of tartness, acidity or what craft beer lovers call “funk”.

Sours swing from traditional Belgian-style Lambics, across to reinvented historical German styles like Berliner Weisses and Goses, and wild ales using all-native ingredients.

Overall, sours are great for the Australian climate. They’re often low ABV, and have a crisp and refreshing taste - perfect for hot summer days.

They’re gaining great momentum as an alternative to cider, sparkling wines and spritzes, all of which are go-tos for summer.

And, of course, almost every brewery from Sydney’s Inner-West brewing hub has added at least one sour to their core range.

So, what sours does Matt love?

Batch Brewing Pash the Magic Dragon Sour Ale

"These guys have produced dozens of different sours since they started brewing - and they've added everything from pickles to coffee to fresh chilli. This sour gets its name from the passionfruit and dragonfruit added to the mix. It's light in your mouth, with big tropical aromas, and a touch of acidity. Passiona for grown ups - perfect for hot days in the inner west, or anywhere else in Sydney."⁠

Wayward Brewing Raspberry Berliner Weisse

“This is one of the original Australian takes on the fruited sour. As you would expect from the name, it’s packed with bright, raspberry flavours. The tartness is informed but this raspberry flavour. It’s nice and zippy with a crisp, dry finish.”

Yulli’s Brews Dolly Aldrin Berliner Weisse Series

“Yulli’s Brewing start with the same base beer and then mix it up by adding different fruits with each new release. In the past they’ve added guava, apricot, strawberry, plum, beetroot and apple. Recently, they’ve gone back to their very first experiment - honeydew melon. Melon adds a great softness to the tartness of your standard sour. It’s fresh, light, dry and very tasty.”