I’ve received further confirmation of my suspicions from professional brewers. It looks like ’sour’ is going to be the new ‘hoppy.’  I say good luck.

Sour flavors imparted by brettanomyces and other microflora have been a characteristic of numerous Belgian beers, many of which aren’t the least bit subtle about it.  Some Belgian sour beers are wonderful; Rodenbach Grand Cru is one of my all-time favorites, with a soft, fruity palate that subsumes into a tangy, tart burst on the back of the tongue, leaving the drinker eager for another sip. The subtle sourness is the hook that pulls the glass back to the lips. Other sour Belgian beers, like the much-ballyhooed Cantillon Lambics, put one more in the mind of salad dressing. You could color Easter eggs with that stuff.

Which brings me to my concern. People rave about Cantillon, and many will tell you how they consider it one of the true treasures of the beer world, even as their faces contort into grotesque puckers with every vinious sip. I really think many people fall into mass-mentality with Cantillon, worshipping it because other beer geeks do, like graphic designers worship Mac computers.

So now American brewers are breaking out the Brett like never before. Over the next year or so, we’re gonna be seeing some sour-ass beers from some pretty respected breweries. Will the beer intelligentsia get behind them? Will folks new to beer fall right into the party line, the way they did with extremely hopped beers? Will there be a subculture of beer enthusiasts that will snottily dismiss any beer not super sour as “bland crap” the way there was with extremely hopped beers?

I’m not calling out the breweries; those guys have proven they can brew excellent beers in any style. I’m just hoping for the best from beer lovers. I’m hoping we can try the new sour stuff, enjoy what we enjoy, and not turn the experimentation of the brewers into a full-blown fad just for conformity’s sake.  There are too many beers out there for that, and we’d only be shortchanging ourselves.

-Mark