One of the latest trends in craft beer is the sour. If you really want to know all about sour beer, check out Penrose’s website here or use the google. What is a sour beer? Simply put, it’s a beer that is brewed to taste sour! The key to making a beer sour is the introduction of lactic acid, as acidity correlates with sour flavor. Yeast is used in beer brewing to convert the sugars in the malt into alcohol. In a sour beer, a bacterium like lactobacillus, is introduced, which converts the sugars in the malt into lactic acid. By controlling the lactic acid production, the brewer can achieve a certain level of sour.

With its Deminimus series, Penrose has created approachable sours that can be consumed in some quantity (due to their low alcohol content). They are calling them sessions sours. Deminimus Roux was our favorite when we tasted it, and so we’ve brought it into The Pub for you to enjoy. Clocking in at only 4% ABV, it is genuinely a beer that you can drink for an entire session. It has a pH of 3.45, making it about as tart as orange juice. It has a bitterness of 14 IBU (compared to your typical IPA, you may not even notice the bitterness). Penrose describes this beer as follows: “Huell Melon hops showcase red berry and ripe watermelon characteristics before journeying into a fruity malt balance and a dry, tart finish.”

(Huell Melon is a hops variety created by a research group in Huell, Germany. It’s a daughter to Cascade hops, and is used primarily for aroma and secondarily for flavor. The creators dubbed it “melon” because it evokes honeydew and watermelon on the nose.)

Overall, we think Deminimus Roux is an eminently approachable sour from a really cool, up and coming Chicago Brewer (okay, they’re in Geneva, but you don’t know where that is). These guys are super nerdy and really belong at The Pub on trivia night. It’s perfect for drinking a few of these and still be able to answer trivia questions. That’s why Victor has made this his pick for the first Trivia night of the year.

Sour Power!