[Iliff Ave]

My friend loves sour beers and I am looking to purchase a couple of nice bottles for a wedding gift. I personally, don't have the palate for sours yet so am looking for recommendations. I am located in Colorado so that obviously affects what I can find.

With the limited research I have done and what I have seen, it looks like offerings from Cascade may be the best option. Any others that I should be aware of?

[dannyjed]

Isn't Crooked Stave in Colorado?

[Iliff Ave]

It is

[dannyjed]

I can't get those nice west coast sours, but I get Jolly Pumpkin and I like them very much. Not sure if you can get those in Colorado.

[reverseapachemaster]

How much are you looking to spend and where do the lucky couple live?

Crooked Stave beers are excellent and reasonably priced. If the couple live outside of Crooked Stave's distribution then I would absolutely recommend Crooked Stave. Crooked Stave would be a fine gift for anybody in their distribution footprint but it's not so hard to find in Colorado that you may be giving them something they do not regularly drink. The most widely distributed Crooked Stave beers are not bracingly sour but some are. Most people are happy to get any Crooked Stave so you are probably good to pick up anything you come across. If you can get to either Crooked Stave location in Denver you might have more choices in bottles.

Cascade beers are good but IMO not worth their price point. I've seen them for sale at $30-50 per bottle which is ridiculous. There are better fruit sours on the market for $30 and less.

I'm not sure if Cantillon distributes into Colorado but that would be a good choice. Drie Fonteinen definitely does and would be another good choice. Drie is pricey but on par with Cascade.

You'll also find some of the Odell and Funkwerks sours around Colorado which are good but can be tough to find. Russian River's sours get into your market but disappear pretty much right when they hit the stores. You also get Jolly Pumpkin and possibly Anchorage. You might even get Allagash's sour beers. Bruery distributes into your market and put some good beers that might be on the shelf (Rueze, Tart of Darkness and maybe Sour in the Rye).

[curtism1234]

New Belgium La Folie is generally regarded as one of the best. It's seasonal and hard to find though

[erockrph]

New Belgium La Folie is generally regarded as one of the best. It's seasonal and hard to find though

Well, it's certainly one of the sourest/most acetic. Personally, I enjoy it a lot, but not everyone feels the same way.

I'm not sure what's available out there, but Jester King makes fantastic sours. I like Red Poppy from Lost Abbey a lot, and Gueuze Girardin, Gueuze La Fond Tradition and Mikkeller's spontaneous lambic series are my favorite Belgian sours (unfortunately no Cantillon or Drie Fonteinen out my way).

[curtism1234]

You might be able to find Sam Adams Stoney Brook Red, a red flemish which will present nicely with caged cork. I'm not a huge fan of sours and didn't care for this one, but what do I know Perhaps others will chime in.

[Iliff Ave]

Thanks All.

My response just got deleted...love that 

I am looking to spend $60-70. Maybe the best bet is to get him a few instead of just a couple. I have seen the Cascade sours for $30-40 each so it is good to hear that they may be overpriced. He would appreciate something like that or Lost Abbey since we have visited both. I know he likes La Folie but wasn't sure if it is available or not. I think he had the Avery raspberry sour recently as well and liked it. He loves all things Odell so I will try to pick up one of those. A good imported one would be nice so I will see what I can find. Sounds like Cantillon may be the way to go.

Hopefully I can find an employee at the beer store that knows what they are talking about because I sure as hell have no idea...

[klickitat jim]

I guess it depends on the person but I get most excited over variety and stuff I have not had yet. But some folks stick to their favorite and thats all they want.