Best Sour Beer Buying Options In Columbus, Ohio

If you're looking to buy sour beer in Columbus, Ohio, you're in luck! The city is home to several breweries and beer stores that offer a wide variety of sour beers. From fruity and tangy to complex and aged, there's a sour beer for every taste. Here's a closer look at some of the top spots to find your favourite sour beer in Columbus.

Best sour beer bars in Columbus, OH

Sour beers are made by fermenting beer in barrels with wild yeast strains like brettanomyces or bacteria like lactobacillus. While this style of beer may not be for everyone, it offers a complex and refreshing alternative to heavy stouts or IPAs, with flavours ranging from tangy and sweet to grassy and floral.

Columbus, Ohio, has a plethora of bars that serve sour beers, from specialist breweries to traditional bars. Here are some of the best:

Kindred Brewing

Kindred Brewing has a dedicated sour beer programme. You can sit in their Gahanna taproom and see the barrel-aging room. They've already released a few sour beers, including their Wanderlust and Spring Thaw sours in bottles, with more to come.

Lineage Brewing

Lineage Brewing offers a beer called Aunt Bernice, a Berliner Weisse, which is a common type of sour wheat beer that is slightly hazy, light-bodied, and tart. They regularly infuse casks of Aunt Bernice with various fruits, including pomegranates, raspberries, and grapefruit.

Wolf's Ridge Brewing

Wolf's Ridge Brewing has a collection of saisons called the Terre du Sauvage sour series, which are fermented in oak barrels and either dry-hopped or blended with other ingredients. They also have other sour beers, like their sour wheat gose.

Pretentious Barrel House

Pretentious Barrel House is the first Columbus brewery to focus solely on sour beers. While they are still relatively new and have a limited portfolio, they have a strong start with brews like the Sybarite sour red ale and the Truculent American sour with ginger and lime zest.

Hoof Hearted Brewing

Hoof Hearted Brewing has experimented with sours, the most notable being their Rose Gose, a gose infused with hibiscus.

Somewhere in Particular Brewing

Somewhere in Particular Brewing offers a variety of sour beers on tap, including bottles and cans. They were also mentioned by a Yelp reviewer who usually doesn't like sour beers but enjoyed the one they got with their flight.

Random Precision Brewing

Random Precision Brewing is a sour-focused brewery that is soon to open in the Linworth area on the northwest side of Columbus.

Other Notable Mentions:

• Platform Beer Co. (Downtown Columbus)
• Seventh Son Brewing (Italian Village)
• Ohio Brewing Columbus
• Columbus Brewing Company Taproom (Hilltop)
• Heart State Brewing

Sour beer breweries in Columbus

Sour beers are fermented in barrels with wild yeast strains like brettanomyces or bacteria strains like lactobacillus. They are complex and refreshing, with a tart flavour that is reminiscent of the candy we enjoyed as kids. While they may not be to everyone's taste, sour beers are a great alternative to heavy stouts or hoppy IPAs.

Columbus has a growing number of breweries and an increasing number of these are producing sour beers. Here are some of the best sour beer breweries in Columbus:

Kindred Brewing

Kindred Brewing has a large sour beer programme. You can sit in their Gahanna taproom and see the barrel-aging room. They brew a variety of styles, including their Berliner Weisse and Biere de Mars, and have released Wanderlust and Spring Thaw sours in bottles, with more on the way.

Lineage Brewing

Lineage Brewing offers a beer called Aunt Bernice, a Berliner Weisse, a common type of sour wheat beer that is slightly hazy, light-bodied, and tart. They regularly infuse casks of Aunt Bernice with fruit, including pomegranates, raspberries, and grapefruit.

Wolf’s Ridge Brewing

Wolf’s Ridge Brewing has introduced its Terre du Sauvage sour series, a collection of saisons fermented in oak barrels and either dry-hopped or blended with other ingredients. They also offer other sours, like their sour wheat gose.

Platform Beer Co.

Cleveland-based Platform Beer Co. has opened a brewery and taproom in downtown Columbus, offering a steady selection of sour beers, including their City Boy Berliner Weisse and Shanghai Noon gose, both part of their 12 Kettles sour series.

Pretentious Barrel House

Pretentious Barrel House is the first Columbus brewery to focus exclusively on sours. Their taproom on the east side is open Thursdays through Sundays, and they have a strong selection of sours, including the Sybarite sour red ale and the Truculent American sour with ginger and lime zest.

Hoof Hearted Brewing

Hoof Hearted Brewing has experimented with sours, most notably its Rose Gose, a gose infused with hibiscus.

Random Precision Brewing Company

Random Precision Brewing Company is a rare brewery that specializes exclusively in wild yeast/wild bacteria sours. They also barrel-age some of their beers, adding complexity to the taste. Their taproom is located in northwest Columbus in the Linworth neighbourhood, and they have an excellent selection of sour beers, including Hiding in Plain Sight with Blueberries, a Sour Gose, and Unforeseen Consequences with Apricot, a Golden Sour Ale.

Antiques on High

Antiques on High is the sister brewery of Seventh Son and focuses a lot on sour beers. It has a cozy bar area and an incredible rooftop space. In addition to their beer, they also serve terrific craft cocktails.

Where to buy sour beer in bottles, cans, growlers, and crowlers

Sour beers are fermented in barrels with wild yeast or bacteria, resulting in a complex and refreshing alternative to stouts or IPAs. While not to everyone's taste, their flavours range from grassy and floral to tangy and sweet, and they lend themselves well to infusions with fruit or spices.

Bottles

Bottles can be found at many locations across the city, including:

• Pies & Pints - Easton
• Yellow Brick Pizza - Olde Towne East
• Grandview Yard Market District
• The Hills Market Worthington
• World of Beer - Brewery District
• Actual Brewing Company
• Somewhere In Particular Brewing
• Wolf’s Ridge Brewing
• Heart State Brewing
• Columbus Brewing Company Taproom
• Random Precision Brewing

Cans

Cans can be purchased at the following locations:

• Pies & Pints - Easton
• Yellow Brick Pizza - Olde Towne East
• Grandview Yard Market District
• The Hills Market Worthington
• World of Beer - Brewery District
• Actual Brewing Company
• Somewhere In Particular Brewing
• Wolf’s Ridge Brewing
• Heart State Brewing
• Columbus Brewing Company Taproom
• Random Precision Brewing

Growlers

Growlers are available at a few locations, including:

• Savor Growl on Indianola in Clintonville
• 2995 North High Street
• Pies & Pints - Easton
• World of Beer - Brewery District

Crowlers

Crowlers can be purchased at:

Savor Growl on Indianola in Clintonville

Honourable Mentions

While the following locations didn't specify the type of sour beer available, they are also worth checking out:

• Kindred Brewing
• Lineage Brewing
• Wolf’s Ridge Brewing
• Platform Beer Co.
• Pretentious Barrel House
• Hoof Hearted Brewing
• Antiques on High
• Kenny Road Market
• Weiland’s
• Grain + Grape in Bexley
• Perfect Pour
• Victorian Village Market
• Grandview Market District
• Ale Wine and Spirits
• Draftroom on Shrock
• Jackie Os

Sour beer with fruit

Sour beers are created by fermenting the beverage in barrels with strains of wild yeast or bacteria. While they may not appeal to everyone's taste, they are a complex and refreshing alternative to heavier beers. Sour beers are often infused with different fruits and spices, and can range in flavor from tangy and sweet to grassy and floral.

• Kindred Brewing: This brewery has a focus on sour beers and offers a variety of styles, including their Berliner Weisse and Biere de Mars. They also have bottled sours such as Wanderlust and Spring Thaw.
• Lineage Brewing: They feature a sour wheat beer called Aunt Bernice, which is infused with various fruits like pomegranates, raspberries, and grapefruit.
• Wolf's Ridge Brewing: They offer a collection of saisons called Terre du Sauvage, which are fermented in oak barrels and either dry-hopped or blended with other ingredients. They also rotate through other sours like their sour wheat gose.
• Platform Beer Co.: This Cleveland-based brewery has a taproom in downtown Columbus and offers a steady selection of sour beers, including their City Boy Berliner Weisse and Shanghai Noon gose.
• Pretentious Barrel House: This is the first Columbus brewery to focus exclusively on sour beers. While their portfolio is still growing, they currently offer brews like the Sybarite sour red ale and the Truculent American sour with ginger and lime zest.
• Hoof Hearted Brewing: They have a Rose Gose, which is a gose infused with hibiscus.
• Random Precision Brewing: This is another sour-focused brewery that is expected to open in the Linworth area on the northwest side of Columbus.

In addition to breweries, there are several stores in Columbus that offer a wide selection of sour beers:

• Kenny Road Market: They have an entire aisle dedicated to sour beer options, including rare finds like Saint Dekkera Poire.
• Weiland's: They carry a variety of sour beers, including Jolly Pumpkin's "Oro de Calabaza".
• Grain + Grape: A good beer shop in Bexley, especially for locals and sour beer enthusiasts.
• Perfect Pour: They have a great selection of sour beers and are reasonably priced compared to online retailers.
• Savor Growl: Located on Indianola in Clintonville, they offer a wide range of sour beers.
• Victorian Village Market: They have a good selection of sour beers, including those from local breweries.
• Grandview Market District: You can find a variety of sour beers here, including those from local breweries.

Sour beer with wild yeast

Sour beers are made by intentionally allowing wild yeast strains or bacteria into the brew, usually during the cooling of the wort in a coolship open to the outside air, or through barrels. The most common microbes used to intentionally sour beer are the bacteria Lactobacillus and Pediococcus, while the fungus Brettanomyces can also add some acidity.

Wild yeast is any species of yeast in fermentation other than the pitching yeast, often derived from the environment in or surrounding the brewery. The introduction of wild yeast into wort or beer can be intentional, as in the production of spontaneously fermented lambic, or unintentional, through contamination in the brewery. With the exception of lambic and other spontaneously fermented beers, wild yeasts are considered spoilage organisms in brewing and are avoided.

The wild yeasts most often associated with brewing are natural strains of Saccharomyces and Brettanomyces (Dekkera). Wild Saccharomyces yeast contamination is only encouraged in spontaneously fermented beers. Brettanomyces, which is the bane of winemakers, is also found on the surfaces of fruits and is generally avoided, except in spontaneous fermentation or when intentionally pitched as a pure culture.

In Columbus, Ohio, you can find a wide variety of sour beers at establishments such as Kindred Brewing, Lineage Brewing, Wolf's Ridge Brewing, Platform Beer Co., Pretentious Barrel House, Hoof Hearted Brewing, and Random Precision Brewing. Additionally, bottle shops like Kenny Road Market, Weiland's, and Grain + Grape are recommended for their selection of sour beers.

Frequently asked questions