[homoeccentricus]

Racked 10 liters of Girardin lambic onto 3 kg of redcurrants from my mother-in-law's garden back in July. Bottled and carbonated a month ago. Astringent/sour taste of the redcurrant pits. Very nice, so I'm a bit proudish.



Will no doubt do this again. Maybe try some more fruits that are not so often found in sour beers (so no raspberries or sour cherries). First thing that comes to mind is blueberries. Any other suggestions? Cf the Mikkeller Spontaneous Series: http://beerstreetjournal.com/tag/mikkeller-spontaneous-series/page/2/

[kmccaf]

Racked 10 liters of Girardin lambic onto 3 kg of redcurrants from my mother-in-law's garden back in July. Bottled and carbonated a month ago. Astringent/sour taste of the redcurrant pits. Very nice, so I'm a bit proudish.



Will no doubt do this again. Maybe try some more fruits that are not so often found in sour beers (so no raspberries or sour cherries). First thing that comes to mind is blueberries. Any other suggestions? Cf the Mikkeller Spontaneous Series: http://beerstreetjournal.com/tag/mikkeller-spontaneous-series/page/2/

Gooseberries is what racked my Flanders Red onto. Seems like good flavorers that would meld well. Otherwise, plums may be a good one as well.

[homoeccentricus]

Gooseberries is what racked my Flanders Red onto. Seems like good flavorers that would meld well. Otherwise, plums may be a good one as well.

Yes, both are a possibility, but now out of season. Plums are used in Tilquin Quetsch, another awesome sour...

[morticaixavier]

nom. I've got a bunch of sour blending and bottling to do over the next few weeks. I've thought about blueberries, apples/pears, persimmons maybe?

[brewinhard]

Apricot and mango are two awesome fruits for sour beers as well.  Just be cautious with apricots are they have quite the high acidity and can really knock your sourness over the top if blended with an already quite sour beer.
Best when used to "kick" up the acidity in an "on the edge" sour beer. 

[homoeccentricus]

In all honesty, in Belgium we look down upon beers with fruits like apples, pears and mangos. We associate them with the very sweet, artificially flavored fruit beers from brands like Mongozo or Floris.

[homoeccentricus]

Racked 10 liters of Girardin lambic onto 3 kg of redcurrants from my mother-in-law's garden back in July. Bottled and carbonated a month ago. Astringent/sour taste of the redcurrant pits. Very nice, so I'm a bit proudish.



Will no doubt do this again. Maybe try some more fruits that are not so often found in sour beers (so no raspberries or sour cherries). First thing that comes to mind is blueberries. Any other suggestions? Cf the Mikkeller Spontaneous Series: http://beerstreetjournal.com/tag/mikkeller-spontaneous-series/page/2/

Gooseberries is what racked my Flanders Red onto. Seems like good flavorers that would meld well. Otherwise, plums may be a good one as well.

In all honesty, in Belgium we look down upon beers with fruits like apples, pears and mangos. We associate them with the very cheap, very sweet, artificially flavored fruit beers from brands like Mongozo or Floris.

[homoeccentricus]

Apricot and mango are two awesome fruits for sour beers as well.  Just be cautious with apricots are they have quite the high acidity and can really knock your sourness over the top if blended with an already quite sour beer.
Best when used to "kick" up the acidity in an "on the edge" sour beer.

Cantillon Fou'foune is made with apricots and completely contradicts what you are saying. It is awesome. Maybe it depends on the quality of the apricots? there's a lot of bad apricots in the world. Cantillon gets their apricots from the south of France.

[morticaixavier]

In all honesty, in Belgium wee look down upon beers with fruits like apples, pears and mangos. We associate them with the very sweet, artificially flavored

all the more reason to try the real thing then. don't judge a genre by it's pulp?

[erockrph]

The Mikkeller spontaneous series is a little hit and miss, but the Spontangooseberry is incredible. That foxiness from ribes adds a nice layer to a lambic. Blackcurrant would be a nice addition. I've also wanted to use blackberries - their tartness and tannins would pair nicely with a sour.

[homoeccentricus]

In all honesty, in Belgium wee look down upon beers with fruits like apples, pears and mangos. We associate them with the very sweet, artificially flavored

all the more reason to try the real thing then. don't judge a genre by it's pulp?

The idea is that the good guys have tried it all, and only kept what works. The bad guys pick up the pieces to make a few easy bucks.

Plus, there's something weird about the combination of apples and pears with lambic. Maybe it's the type of sourness, don't know...

[homoeccentricus]

Ah yes, and the idea of mango lambic makes me shudder :-P

[homoeccentricus]

The Mikkeller spontaneous series is a little hit and miss, but the Spontangooseberry is incredible. That foxiness from ribes adds a nice layer to a lambic. Blackcurrant would be a nice addition. I've also wanted to use blackberries - their tartness and tannins would pair nicely with a sour.

You are right about the series. Unfortunately did not try the gooseberry.

And blackberries is a very good idea. But I would have to be able to pick kilos of them in season. They are prohibitively expensive to buy.

[erockrph]

The Mikkeller spontaneous series is a little hit and miss, but the Spontangooseberry is incredible. That foxiness from ribes adds a nice layer to a lambic. Blackcurrant would be a nice addition. I've also wanted to use blackberries - their tartness and tannins would pair nicely with a sour.

You are right about the series. Unfortunately did not try the gooseberry.

And blackberries is a very good idea. But I would have to be able to pick kilos of them in season. They are prohibitively expensive to buy.

And if they're not in season and super ripe, then they aren't worth the money anyways. Blackberries are one of those fruits I just won't buy if it's not in season. Peaches and strawberries are two others. Not coincidentally, these are three fruits that are usually quite disappointing when used in brewing - probably because they are pretty much flavorless unless they are at the peak of ripeness.

[morticaixavier]

Another one that is fantastic in sour beer but only available spottily and for a brief window of time is Persian mulberries. They look like blackberries but the flavor is so complex. fruity, yes, but also floral, almost perfumed but in a good way. A good tannin structure as well. I imagine other mulberries might work as well. The white ones would be an interesting experiment as one could add a ton without any significant color addition.