The first ever Pittsburgh Craft Beer Week is in full effect,
with venues all over southwestern PA showcasing the flavor, diversity, &
fun of craft beer. As part of this
week-long celebration, the House was proud to represent in a big way this past Saturday,
the 21st, with what one might call the “beer-geekiest” event of
PCBW: “The Sour & the Funky”, featuring three hours of sours!
What are sours beers, you ask? While most beers are made with a specific,
carefully cultivated yeast strain called saccharomyces
(translating to “sugar fungus”), each of the beers featured Saturday afternoon
were at least partially fermented with wild yeast, bacteria, or other
microorganisms. These microscopic
critters impart a wide variety of complex flavors & aromas, from lemony,
herbal, & floral, to wine-like, vinegary, even “barnyard” or
“horse-blanket” notes. They can range
from sweet, like the popular lambics from Lindemans, to intensely sour, acidic,
& funky. When trying these “wild”
beers for the first time, most beer-drinkers find them challenging, even
off-putting; but once the taste has been acquired, the sours fan is hooked for
life!
It’s this cult-like appreciation for wild ales that led us
at the House to organize an event we thought would fill a special niche in
Pittsburgh Craft Beer Week. Conceived as
a tasting, things grew into something more like a mini-festival, with a list of
over 30 beers & a crowd of 50 “sour-heads” filling our cozy front bar &
creating a vibe of friendly, controlled chaos.
Some crowd favorites were the Cantillon Lou Pepe Gueuze, from one of
Belgium’s most authentic lambic brewers; Russian River Supplication, an
American wild ale fermented on sour cherries; and the sleeper of the event,
Cisco’s Lady of the Woods. We at the
House loved playing host to a great, adventurous crowd, & look forward to
throwing more events like this in the future.
If you’re interested in opening yourself up to the world of
sour & wild beers, three of those poured on Saturday are currently on tap
at the House: Lindemans Framboise, a sweet raspberry lambic with a hint of tart
balance; Monk’s Café Flemish Sour Ale, a Flanders red ale with a stronger sour
character; and Stillwater Premium, a post-prohibition, “macro-style” pilsner
partially fermented with the wild yeast brettanomyces. Try a glass of any of these, or ask the staff
to point out a good bottle to introduce yourself to the beer family’s “wild
side”.
