Blending beers combines different batches of sour beers to create not only interesting and nuanced flavors, but to ensure that the sourness of each beer is on point. The beers typically rest in oak barrels held in brewers’ cellars for months—or even year—before they’re brought out for the public’s consumption. Each batch can undergo multiple tastings and tweaks before it’s ready. Not every brewery has the time or resources to go through this type of process, which is why these programs are so rare and the bottles so coveted. Here, we’ve highlighted ten brewers who blend.
Casey Brewing & Blending
Glenwood Springs, Colorado
Earlier this year Serious Eats posted an article about Casey Brewing & Blending with the headline “The Hottest Brewer in America Doesn’t Even Brew.” It’s true—owner Troy Casey purchases wort from other craft breweries, and then ferments and ages it in oak barrels. He then blends those barrels together to create well-rounded, nuanced sours that his cult-like following can’t seem to get enough of. Connoisseurs can expect to wait in long lines at the Glenwood Springs brewery on release days.