Sandwiches With Sours
Trendy sour beer suits summer to a T, especially for a casual lunch paired with mouth-watering, satisfying sandwiches.
The appreciation for sour beers continues to flourish — and for good reason! Aside from being delicious, they are especially well-suited to summertime enjoyment on account of their lightness and refreshing personality. We’ve rounded up some of this summer’s best sour ales for your perfect moments on the patio or for dining al fresco. Some of them shine with citrusy brightness; others get some additional flavour from summer fruits and spicing. A few of them showcase the brew masters’ art by way of dry-hopping or barrel-aging. Whatever the style, you can always count on tart, refreshing acidity from this unique and special style of beer. Sour beers are perfect food partners not only due to their refreshing character but also for their palate-cleansing capabilities. Zippy acidity does double duty by first cutting through any heavy fattiness and second by making your mouth salivate, which also helps to rinse off the palate between bites.
Grilled Salmon Club Sandwich With Maple Bacon
With its rich mayo and salmon, zesty pickled onions and sweet, umami-rich bacon, this deluxe sandwich needs a partner that can stand up to all its big flavours! These three sour ales have loads of complexity and interest. In addition to going through lactic fermentation to give it its sour nature, the first beer also receives dry-hopping, and the remaining two spent time in barrel. Both brewing techniques give exceptional flavour when done well.
Amsterdam Makes You Pucker
This sour is dry-hopped and loaded with fruit aromas. It’s brewed with orange and lime zest and has additional flavours of mango and white grapefruit.
Small Pony Barrel Works Half Remembered Dream
Intriguing and complex, this barrel-aged sour carries a load of flavour. It’s floral and fruity — think rosehip and pear compote — with a tart, lactic finish.
Beau’s Halcyon Barrel House Echo Chamber
Perfectly suited for food pairing with its brisk acidity and the pleasant bitterness achieved through dryhopping and aging in red wine barrels.
Tartine of Egg Salad with Onion Sprouts & Radishes
The creamy, unctuous nature of egg salad calls for flavours that perk things up and keep things fresh. In addition to barley, all three beers have wheat in their grain bill, which helps with the tartness factor, keeping things bright and lively. The accompanying citrus notes complement the zippy radish and sprouts and enhance all the other flavours in the sandwich.
Left Field Brewery Lo Viste Mojito Sour
Summery and sessionable at only 4% ABV (alcohol by volume), this sour has lots of fresh lime flavour garnished with a hint of spearmint.
Side Launch Brewing Company Margarita Gose
Germany meets Mexico. A refreshing beer with the bright notes of lime and seasoned with a beach-worthy hint of salt.
Folly Brewing Heist Sour Pale Ale
Dry-hopped, balanced and packing a serious citrus punch, this pale ale ends in a clean, tart finish.
Caprese Sandwich with Roast Chicken & Peaches
These four pairings were chosen as a great match for the Caprese
sandwich on account of their ability to link up with one of the sandwich’s key ingredients — peaches. All the fruitiness found in these sours perfectly complements the ripe summer peaches and adds an additional pleasant fruity flavour to the mouthful.
Wellington Brewery Shubie Sour Raspberry IPA
This juicy and tart IPA delivers bold hopping, a 6.9% ABV (alcohol by volume) and loads of raspberry flavour which together make for a mouthful of goodness.
Bellwoods Brewery Jelly King
A popular choice amongst beer folk on account of its juicy and refreshing personality and the dry-hopping with flavourful hop varieties such as Citra, Amarillo and Cascade.
Fixed Gear Brewing Co. Cherry Training Wheels Sour
This relative newcomer is a perfectly crafted balance of tart lactic acidity, juicy flavours of cherry, cranberry and tangerine, and punchy dry-hopping.
Side Launch Brewing Company Hibiscus Rose Sour
Lightly textured and floral, this sour is the perfect food beer. With notes of rosehip and chamomile, it has a cleansing, bright finish.
Summertime Cubano
The Cubano conjures up sunny, tropical thoughts and that is why we chose these beers. They all lean towards juicy, tropical notes on account
of the brewer’s choice of hops. From a technical point of view, the beer’s carbonation helps to cleanse the palate of the rich cheese, pork and mayonnaise. That same cleansing ability is at play in all three of the pairing options.
Collective Arts Brewing Guava Gose
This fan-favourite offers the juicy, tropical notes of guava balanced with tart acidity and a hint of pink Himalayan salt.
Bench Brewing Company Green Fields Sour
A complex yet approachable mixed fermentation sour offering juicy tropical fruit flavours, pleasant bitterness and of course bright acidity.
Collective Arts Jam up the Mash
Packed with flavours including kiwi and mango, with resinous pine and citrusy lactic notes, this sour allows for great pairing versatility.
