Sour beers are often misunderstood, with conventional wisdom suggesting they offer all sourness and no taste. Nothing can be further from the truth. The key to quality sour beer brands is their complexity, with tartness and rich flavor offset by carbonation, acidity, and even hops in IPA crossovers.

There are different styles of sour beer, from those implementing spontaneous fermentation wild yeast (lambic), the double fermented gose, Flanders Red Ales, Berliner Weisse, and kettle sours. This collection of 10 best sour beers offers a full range of options for you to test out, whether you’re a beer aficionado or a newcomer looking to find the right style to suit your palate.

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1. Rodenbach Alexander Flanders Red Sour Ale

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A world class imported Flanders Red Ale, Rodenbach Alexander is a blend from stand oak foeders brewed with macerated cherries that gives it a beautiful ruby red color and pinkish-hued head. The aroma is cherry and leather, backed by a rich and concentrated palate that lingers on the edge of being too sweet for sour before the signature tartness builds towards a lingering finish amongst the tannins of oak.

The quintessential red ale to suit beginners exploring the taste, Rodenbach is a great starting point that pairs nicely with cheeses but is tasty enough to enjoy on its own.

2. Fou’ Foune Brasserie Cantillon

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This delicious Lambic beer is different from “normal beer” because it’s fermented through spontaneous exposure to wild yeast (Brettanomyces yeast) and bacteria native to the Zenne valley in Belgium. Cantillon Fou’ Foune is an apricot lambic brewed yearly by Cantillon (bottling usually commences in August), using approximately 300 grams of organically grown apricots grown in France per bottle.