3 New Dark Sour Beers to Help Smooth the Transition to Winter

As an overrated show once proselytized, winter is coming. In Vancouver, it’s basically already here. But for those that can’t bear the thought of leaning into the porters and stouts that are about to get seasonally appropriate, there are some options out there.  

That’s right; sours aren’t just for the summer beer drinkers and their fancy patios anymore. Dark sours have become more and more prevalent in the beerosphere as a sort of happy medium between those that need some depth in their beers and those that just want to drink something fruity and enjoyable.  

Let’s get dark with some of the better dark sours we’ve sipped on recently.  

Love Buzz Plum Bourbon Sour – Strathcona Beer 

Strathcona’s Love Buzz series always hits, and this ode to the dark sour is no exception. There’s a ton of plum hanging around here, but it finishes really nicely, with a touch of Bourbon and vanilla helping to give it a well-rounded but still fruity taste. 

Plummet Dark Sour – Container Brewing 

And we’re staying in the plums! Honestly, we’re a little disappointed that a Vancouver brewery hasn’t done a sugar plum sour (hmm, on second thought, maybe we’re good), but plums are popping off. Perhaps it’s just a way of getting purple on a can? Either way, this can looks excellent, and the beer inside it rocks as well. Dark malt and dark fruit (can we coin “druit”?) combine for a fairly complex but rewarding beer from the stellar team at Container.  

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Vespertine Dark Sour Ale With Cherry – House of Funk Brewing  

With apologies to the professors of plum above, this was my favourite of the three. It should probably come as no surprise that North Van’s House of Funk absolutely nails a sour beer here. It’s kind of what they do. Tart, with a dark fruitiness and still retaining that classic funkiness, Vespertine is delicious ‘till the last drop. I tried to savour the four-pack as long as possible.  

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Unfortunately, someone else in my household had a couple and in a completely unrelated incident the police are showing up asking a lot of questions, it’s a very weird situation but I have no idea what they’re talking about.  

Hey, I told you this would get dark.