by Robert Giles

The story of sour beer is an old one. It’s a story of time honored traditions that come from different regions and lend different characteristics to the style.

Roused from obscurity by the recent craft beer renaissance, sour beer certainly has and still is going in some very surprising directions. From simple lime, salt, and fruit notes to flavors that resemble pastries, sour beer has many variations to choose from.  At this point, we all patiently wait and ask, "WHAT are they going to put in these beers next!?"

The answer: one of the most widely popular salty and acidic snacks around – the pickle!

If you follow Pinterest, you already know that the PICKLE is a huge trend this year. The market has blown up with pickle vodka, pickle moonshine and pickle beer! It appears that the briny cucumber is one of the coolest kids in school!

But before we dive into this surprising match-made-in-heaven, let's review how we got here.

Belgium is often considered the epicenter for sour beer. Their brewers have crafted the style for thousands of years. Part of this process is the spontaneous fermentation cycle used in the Lambic style -- where the wort (unfermented beer) is exposed to wild yeast and bacteria in the environment leading to a distinct tartness. This process most likely happened by accident in the past, as craft brewing was not as fine-tuned as it is today. Fermentation was unpredictable and led to beers with a sour, funky taste. This “accident” was perfected over ages in regions like Belgium, Germany, and The Netherlands and grew into the sour beers we know and love today.

In the modern era this revitalized tradition has found its way into many craft breweries (and even into more bellies of happy beer drinkers). One such brewery is Fort Worth’s Martin House, known for a constant onslaught of new beers and an ever-rotating repertoire of innovative sours. Your mouth will pucker and your head will spin at the sheer amount of sour power they unleash.

Martin House offers a beer brewed in collaboration with Best Maid pickles. Using their Salty Lady Gose as a base, they brew with dill brine in the process to make a refreshing salty tart drink great for a warm day!

If you just want to just dip your toes into the brine, we have a single cans of Martin House sour available. If you're already a fan or want to go all in, Martin House has a 12-pack variety of flavored pickle beers including a strawberry sour, lemonade sour, blackberry sour, and orange sour that are all brewed with pickle brine. A surprisingly popular product we have to stock just about weekly.

Another great brewery with some sour options is Destihl brewery. They have a Pickle Sour and Spicy Pickle Sour brewed with sucker punch pickle brine.

If your face isn't totally puckered at the idea of drinking a pickle beer, then come see what the fuss is about. A bold idea that grew from novelty to a beloved beer choice enjoyed weekly by the masses. Cheers!