WE all know the kind of Chardonnay or Sauvignon lover who’s a ‘strictly dry white drinker’, disregarding their commercial wine of choice might well be stuffed with loads of residual sugar. Flinty and minerally, it ain’t.
There’s not much of a get-out clause for the devotee of ‘Sour Beers’. There may be lots of fruit in the mash but generally the result is tongue-puckeringly sour and that’s how their increasing fan base likes it.
They’ll be flocking to NQ sister bars Kosmonaut and PLY across the May Day Weekend to sample the largest collections of beers that were until recently viewed as a niche interest (but then so too was veganism). Curated by beer importers Cave Direct, there’s a roll call of luminaries that includes Belgium’s Brouwerij 3 Fonteinen, Brouwerij Boon, Brasserie Cantillon, Gueuzerie Tilquin, Oud Beersel and Rodenbach, Copenhagen’s Rocket Brewing plus from the UK Burning Sky, Redchurch, The Kernel, Wild Beer Co and our own Chorlton Brewery.
In a North Western Street arch its owner and head brewer Mike Marcus brews a raft of intentionally acidic beers with a tart or sour taste. Inspired by old Germanic styles, his are unfiltered, unpasteurised and unfined. Undrinkable, too? Far from it. try their Blood Orange Sour for an entry level initiation or the Amarillo Sour, a tarter kind of pale ale.
After that the world’s your sour oyster with each bar giving eight taps over to an array of spontaneous fermentation beer, fruited sour beer, Belgian lambic, kettle sour and barrel aged sour beer from a mix of UK, European and world-wide breweries. With DJs and the in-house ‘Fat Tony’ providing the eats (sours are extremely food-friendly).
Luca Rollini, Brand and Marketing Manager for PLY and Kosmonaut says “We have a massive love for sour beer so we jumped at the chance to showcase some of the world’s best! There will be a huge mix of Lambic, kettle sours, fruited sours, saisons and loads more available over the Bank Holiday weekend. We are super excited for everything we have both on tap and in bottle and the best bit is, there is no ticket needed…just turn up & drink!”
Manchester sour beer and Lambic weekend, Kosmonaut and PLY, Thu, May 3- Mon, May 7. Free. Further information www.plymcr.com or www.kosmonaut.co and via social media for beer programme updates.
