For this sour duel, we’ve got a couple brewers from Colorado. I’ve been getting more and more into sours lately. Their flavor is just so different from what you normally experience in a beer, and I’m all about getting into that strange. After trying a number of them over the past several months, I’d say I’m a little discouraged by what I’ve been trying thus far. I’m a huge fan of the sour flavor, but rarely do brewers pull it together in a beer that works with my palate.
That said, we’ve got Ska Brewing’s Pink Vapor Stew sour ale and Avery Brewing’s El Gose German-style sour ale against each other tonight. I’m hoping these two brewers step up my impression of the category so far.
HopDuel Survey
| Better label | Avery Brewing El Gose |
| Better aroma | Ska Brewing Pink Vapor Stew |
| Better taste | Avery Brewing El Gose |
| Better finish | Avery Brewing El Gose |
| Winner | Avery Brewing El Gose |
Tell us about it
To my delight, I really enjoyed both of these sours. I was surprised to learn the Ska Pink Vapor Stew is brewed with a blend of apples, ginger, carrots & beets. They have somehow found a nice balance with these unique flavors and it led to a subtly mouth puckering flavor, and smoother finish than you’d expect from a sour.
For me, the Avery Brewing El Gose German-style sour ale was just a little more interesting in the taste and finish categories. The lime and sea salt are apparent in the aroma all the way through to the finish. I’ve had a number of sours that can’t find the right balance in these flavors, and leave you with a gut-rot feeling. Kind of like you may have had back in college after a night of too many pre-blended margaritas from the machine at the local dive. Bravo Avery, well done!
HopDuel 