Best Sour Beers In The Bay Area

Brewmaster Vinnie Cilurzo and his wife Natalie are owners and operators of Russian River Brewing Company (RRBC), a brewery once owned by Korbel Champagne Cellars of Guerneville, California. Vinnie was the brewmaster at RRBC then, and when Korbel left the beer end of the business in 2003, Vinnie and Natalie took over the brand name. Among the full line-up of ales and lagers that include California and Belgian styles ales, RRBC brews several wild ales, barrel aged beers in wine barrels acquired from local Sonoma County wineries. One longtime success, and still at the top of its class, is Supplication, a sour brown ale aged in Pinot Noir barrels for 12 months with sour cherries along with its brewing microorganisms. Other sours are: the aptly named Temptation, a sour blonde ale aged in Chardonnay barrels; Beatification, a beer inspired by Belgium's Lambic region; and Consecration, a chocolaty-spice and fruity dark ale aged in Cabernet Sauvignon barrels. Visit the RRBC brewpub for beers on tap (including the sours) and a full menu that goes beyond ordinary bar bites. Happy hour is Monday – Friday 4 – 6:30 p.m. and all day Sunday.

The Rare barrel opened in 2013 as purveyor of one thing only – sour beers, fitting right in to the pervasive sour beer scene across the Bay Area. The flavors that define and dominate sour beers are tart and acidic tastes; the fruity sours of raspberries, cherries, lemons, peaches and other fruits. Rare Barrel co-founders Jay Goodwin and Alex Wallash became interested in craft beer when the two homebrewed beer in their apartment, back in their college days. In their quest to find the "The Rare Barrel," the perfect barrel of sour beer, the brewers create a range of exceptional beers. A home-brewed highlight is Ensorcelled, a dark sour beer aged in oak barrels with raspberries, and one of Rare Barrel's most requested beers. Wallash adds, "It's rich and decadent with notes of fresh raspberries. We make this beer once per year, so you can expect the next batch of Ensorcelled around the middle of next year." Confirming the beer's excellence, Ensorcelled was recently awarded a Silver Medal at the 2015 Great American Beer Festival in the American-Style Sour Ale category. Rare Barrel is one brewery that offers tours and a tasting room, one-upping other local breweries without these perks. Beer tasting is Friday – Sunday. See the tasting room menu here.

Brewmaster and President/CEO Steve Altimari brought his 15-year brewing career to High Water Brewing, which has produced beers in the Bay Area since 2011. High Water's line of sour beer, called the Calambic™ Series, starts with a beer base that essentially is a golden ale aged in wine barrels for one to two years, with fresh fruits added for a tart flavor during the last four to six months of aging. Inspired by the skilled artisans of Belgium's Lambic region and their distinctively fermented beers, the Calambic Series offers High Water's newest wild ales. High Water Brewing President and Brewmaster Steve Altimari has been producing sour beers for 10 years. According to Altimari, "the upcoming release "Stella Blue" is another blueberry sour with the addition of strawberry and rhubarb. It recently won the gold medal at the California State Fair commercial beer competition. Future releases are scheduled to be on a quarterly basis." Note: this location is the corporate office and no tours or samples are available.

Almanac beer is "proudly brewed in California," so you know true love goes into creating the brews here. Founders Jesse Friedman and Damian Fagan pledge, "We aim to create something special and uniquely Northern Californian," and came to brewing via their years of homebrewing in their apartments, where they developed their passion and skill at crafting the types of unusual beers. Almanac offers several sours in their Farm to Barrel Series, where beers center on the age-old tradition of aging beers in oak casks. The series includes Hoppy Sour: Citra, Almanac's first single-hopped sour release that debuted in September 2015. Other sours include Pumpkin Sour and Dark Pumpkin sour, Hoppy Sour Simcoe, Dogpatch Sour, Farmers Reserve Strawberry and several more. Read all about each sour in the Farm to Barrel Series here. Note: No tours or taproom are here yet.

Sante Adairius Rustic Ales is a small brewery in Capitola, California owned and operated by Adair Paterno and Tim Clifford. The Sante Adairius beers are wine barrel-aged with various yeast and bacteria added depending on the desired outcome. Highly inspired by Belgian beer making tradition, but also in sync with brewers worldwide that create with distinctive styles, Sante Adairius Ales succeed in delighting drinkers on a first sip, and reactions are truly impressive. Barrel-aged West Ashley is one sour that gets an "OMG that's good!" reaction. Other sours include Belgian-inspired Saison Bernice, Anais and Lucybelle, and barrel-aged seasonal beers: Appreciation, Love's Armor and Tripod.