Sour Beer, eh? Why on earth would I want to drink that? I suppose in the same way that blue cheese is an acquired taste sours can take a bit of getting used to. There are a couple of Irish sours on the market at the moment. I had White Hag’s Searbh Rua Imperial Sour Red the other evening. It’s definitely red, pouring a deep burnished amber and at 7.9% it deserves the Imperial tag, but sour? Not really, it’s got funky fruity aroma and that carries through to the taste. The flavour is described on the label as having “a lingering mild tartness from wild yeast”. A really different new Irish beer.

Desperate Mile is a limited edition from Galway Bay Brewery. It’s labelled a Hoppy Sour and comes in at a more modest 5.4%. It’s a lovely golden colour and once again it has a funky fruity aroma. This time though the wild yeast is complimented by citrussy hops. This might be a good place to start for those of you who are put off by the thought of drinking a Sour Beer. Go on, live dangerously, try one of these beers today!

Both are available in bottle from McHughs.ie and I’d say you could be lucky enough to find Desperate Mile on draught in a Galway Bay Brewery pub. Sláinte!

Simon Broderick aka Simon Says… You Really Should Drink This! Simon started his blog in September 2013. Since then he has built up a large audience of readers. He can also be found on Twitter. A passionate Advocate for Great beer, he set up the Athlone Beer Club in January 2014 and this has proven very popular with publicans and members alike in the Midlands. The future? Ireland’s second craft beer book perhaps! And a lot of beers.