Sours & Mixed Ferment

Always a fun and popular category, also polarizing as you always need at least three sips before you can really respect one of these funky, wild beers. We tasted a spectrum of tart and balanced, intense sour, and wild and layered. Most of the layered ones use a Belgian brewing technique called ‘spontaneous and wild fermentation’. This category was challenging, but we found our winners carefully. Edmonton's Blind Enthusiasm and Regina’s Pile o’ Bones/Nokomis collab both ruled this stage. - Dave Gingrich