“I find these Old World sours to be largely overlooked these days, with the craze of American fruited kettle sours,” says Suzanne Schalow, the co-founder and CEO of Craft Beer Cellar. There are the Old World sours, which are usually spontaneously fermented with wild yeast and spend time ading in barrels. When talking about sour, there are two distinct schools. Some breweries older than that discovery are still producing beer today.” “Civilizations have been making beer since long before Louis Pasteur discovered the role of yeast in fermentation.

“There is nothing new about sour beer,” says Shanna Greenleaf, bar manager of Goed Zuur, a sour-focused beer bar in Denver.

While sour beers only became popular in the last decade in the US, they provide the foundation of beer’s history.

These beers make for great gateway beers for wine drinkers, pair beautifully with food, and help break up a fridge full of hop bombs. The IPA may be trendy, but the sour is timeless.