This recipe from Boston-based Trillium Brewing’s Cofounder and Brewmaster, Jean-Claude Tetreault, uses New England malt and honey. To give your version its own terroir, source your malt and honey locally.

Aroma: “Dry cider-like impression with a seedy and nutty character and just a hint of funk. Bright fruit flavors of raspberry and cherry that are well blended together. Very inviting.” Flavor: “Upfront bright, almost lemony, acidity coupled with a raspberry tartness, but it doesn’t linger too long, encouraging further drinking. Slight malt notes and acidity washes most of ‘beer-like’ flavors. Very little funk. Finish is softly tart, not acetic, though the raspberries add a slightly astringent twang. Good carbonation makes it sparkle on the tongue.” Overall: “Very nice balance of the sweetness and sour. Tasty and complex, but not overdone. The fruit adds a lot of interest, and the tartness balances very well with the underlying sourness in the beer.”

**Aroma:** “Super powerful sweet fruity aroma—cherry, pear? Light malt sweetness. Big cherry and blackberry, oak, and sweet cherry. High sweetness and strong apple aroma.” **Flavor:** “Very sweet, Jolly Rancher– flavor with a light acidity. The fruits are hard to discern, but it tastes like unfer- mented apple juice and plums. Low sour could use bit more oomph to back up the sweetness. Malt profile is hidden, but hints at a touch of bread, without which this would push very close to wine cooler territory. Linger is fruity and has a light strawberry note mixed into the fruit.” **Overall:** “Very strong fruit flavors right on the edge of overly sweet wine cooler. I’d love to see this fruit blend toned down in a much more sour red ale. Very heavy, sweet beer with notes of cherry and slight strawberry. A good beer, but I don’t think I could finish a whole glass of it. Pairing this with a nice chocolate cake would be wonderful.”

Light funk on the nose. Hints of lemongrass, leather, horse blanket, wet hay, and a light stone-fruit character create a delicate, inviting aroma. An initial tart, peach-like character fades into an acidic lemon-lime flavor with hints of oak-derived tannin and light vanilla. The acidity builds quickly but also dissipates quickly.

**Aroma:** “Medium sour note with a fruit melody with slight peach, green apple, pineapple, lemon, clove, tropical fruit, and a touch of sour. Floral Brett aroma.” **Flavor:** “Light clean lactic sourness with flavors of apricot/peach skin. Cider-like green and red apple flavors. Lime and grapefruit notes with a low green apple note. Grainy malt sweetness. Cinnamon and bread crust tart sourness is very smooth, lactic. High fruitiness up front with a rush of moderate sour notes com- ing in. High carbonation complements the sour notes. Slight wood or oak notes. Linger is slight and sour.” **Overall:** “Slightly sweet and lemony makes for a very tasty beer. Fruit character is very subdued. It is very easy to drink and only moderately sour. Nice clean lactic flavor dominates. There’s a lot going on, and I’m trying to pick out what the fruits are, but then the rush of sourness comes on.”

**Aroma:** “Lactic acid up front with some subtle apricot notes, but lactic tartness is front and center with very little else coming through. Light mercaptan/ sulfur, pineapple, plum buoyed by a light maltiness. Brett character is nice—a little earthy and funky.” **Flavor:** “Lots of lactic acid and tartness up front with just a subtle hint of apricot fruit and sweetness to balance. Very light pineapple, mouth-puckering lemon sour. Body is a tad light. Nice leathery Brett frames the sour. Long-lingering lactic with a touch of apricot. High carbonation provides a warmth in the finish.” **Overall:** “Good apricot sour with the lambic/sour characteristic being dominant and the apricot playing a more supportive role. As it warms, the apricot becomes more apparent, but still in a supporting role. If you like really sour you would enjoy the bold flavors in this beer.”

**Aroma:** “Cloves, pine-tree pitch, grapefruit zest, and hops are evident but not bold. Wood, black pepper, grapefruit, and lemon-peel notes. Slight dank, weed aroma in the hops and a fun phenolic yeast character.” **Flavor:** “Moderate lactic acidity fades quickly into an herbal/lemony hops finish with a touch of grapefruit. Lots of hops flavor, but very slight hops bitterness. Light malt sweetness could use a little more body to support the acid. Linger has a spicy salsa-like note.” **Overall:** “A spicy, sour, and lemon beer that is very smooth tasting after the initial bite of sour. Obviously hopped but not in a way that brings them out as a novelty beer. A great example of a light touch, not trying to win the pageant with zany hops. Very clean sourness and acidity in balance with hop flavors. Relatively mild wild character paired with the light touch on hops makes this easy to enjoy.”

**Aroma:** “Fresh peaches up front, with a hint of apricot and even nectarine. Slight sulfur, light pineapple and banana. Brett funk and fruitiness come through in the nose. Hints of smoky, burnt rubber—a bit phenolic. Tartness comes through mostly as lactic acid, reminiscent of a Berliner or Gose.” **Flavor:** “Nice peach fruitiness with a touch of apricot. A very subtle hint of butter along with the peach. Tart citric sourness quickly melds with fairly strong peaches and starts to overtake the fruit. The Brett character adds complexity without too much funk. Slight undertone of rubber/sulfur lingers in the aftertaste. Touch of husky graininess at the tail end.” **Overall:** “Good sour, but a little thin, and the fruit characteristics are pretty light. Nice showcase of peach character with a decent tartness and acidity that could be dialed back just a bit more to better highlight the fruit.”

__Aroma:__ “Blackberry fruitiness and raspberry sweetness, with a light tartness and jamminess that bring in an almost wine-like quality. Earthiness in the background from the blackberries; funk from wild fermentation is subdued. A hint of chocolate sweetness. Full and inviting.” __Flavor:__ “Dry blackberry, with jammy and juicy raspberries and a touch of sweetness on the back end. Earthiness, a limited amount of funk, and very low sweetness. The bitterness and tannic dryness come through moderately, with a nice hint of lemon that adds brightness and complexity. Rounded, smooth, with that note of chocolate and carbonation. The aftertaste is simple and doesn’t linger.” __Overall:__ “The blackberry is more earthy and in the background and works so well with the intensity of the raspberries. With the acidity and the tannins, it’s a little rough around the edges, but the fruity character, light body, and carbonation work. It’s a nice, straightforward balance.”

**Aroma:** “Light berry notes with sour- ness, slight malt sweetness, a touch of Brett funk and pineapple, light acidity. Some nice lactic sour notes.” **Flavor:** “Sour, but not overly so. Enjoy- able malt complements the sourness, with no real bitterness to speak of. Some light berry notes and cherry-like fruit fla- vors add complexity with a touch of Brett funk that pulls it all together. Moderate puckering up front that subsides quickly. Medium herbal note and long-lingering berry notes with a bit of tannin.” **Overall:** “A nice, not-too-crazy drinkable sour. Sour characteristics are strong with the berries providing some structur- al tannins and rounder malic acid. The Brett delivers through the middle before the malt finishes things out. Once this beer warms, it has a medium raspberry or herbal note, and I wished for just a little more sweetness to balance it out.”

**Aroma:** “Mellow fruity aroma. Low sweetness, but sweet grape notes are present as is some funkiness. Low tart- ness and a juicy wine-like character.” **Flavor:** “This beer has a nice champagne-like taste with the high car- bonation. The moderate tartness with a slight sweetness transitions into a semi- dry linger that is medium lasting and a light tannic finish. As it warms, there are more grape notes. The acidic sourness is present but not overpowering. Nice lactic flavor. Mellow and rounded.” **Overall:** “An enjoyable beer, with a nice grape character. The carbonation gives it a nice mouthfeel and the tartness blends well to make it a refreshing sour beer with some aroma and taste of goat and horse blanket.”

**Aroma:** “Malty sweet, dark peaty and earthy aromas, and aged port notes. Light caramel, cherry and plum, very light pineapple, moderate green apple. Light acidity, a little sourness. Walking through the forest after a light rain.” **Flavor:** “Dark fruit, strong acidity. Moderate tart notes up front with a green-apple note in the middle of the sip. As it warms the green apple gives way to a rich sourness that is obvious but doesn’t overpower the substantial esters that add a lot of depth to this beer. Apple, pineapple, and passion fruit deliver a refreshing complexity.” **Overall:** “The dark fruits are enjoyable, and the aftertaste is quite nice with the fruit and acidity lingering for some time. There’s a nice sour that’s a bit overshad- owed by the intense green-apple notes. If you want a sour that tingles without dissolving your tongue and offers some interesting fruity notes to boot, this is your beer.”

**Aroma:** “Generous raspberry aroma with notes of dark chocolate and port. Slight blackberry notes with big black currant, a bit of black pepper, and moderate sweetness. As it warms, the _Brett _horse-blanket goodness appears. Beautifully suggests balanced sourness.” **Flavor:** “High tart and raspberry notes up front play with the high carbonation to create an appetizing pucker. Notes of spicy black currant and fruit-skin tannins play against the big jammy notes, with a touch of sweaty horse blanket as it warms. Linger has moderate raspberry notes with no residual sweetness. The warmer it gets, the more the flavors open up.” **Overall:** “Jammy notes dominate this beer initially, then as it warms the _Brett_ character grows stronger in the nose and flavor. Aftertaste is jammy black currant with a light acid. What a punch of raspberry tartness and carbonation with no sweetness whatsoever—just fruit, carbonation, and raspberry.”

**Aroma:** “Strong ripe and dried apricot notes, light pineapple with a hint of white peaches. Nice lactic lemon tartness. The _Brett_ character is mild and sits under the fruity notes in the nose.” **Flavor:** “Apricot juicy fruit character is present in the front and carries through. Lactic-acidic tartness hits in the middle with a nice kick, but the sweetness of the malt and fruit helps to clean it out in the finish. This is a little more citrus than apricot. The _Brett_ character is delicate and a bit hard to pin down, but adds depth and supports the acidity and fruit very nicely.” **Overall:** “This is an extremely well-executed fruited sour, with a decent tartness to pair with the high apricot flavor and sweetness to balance and support. The harmony with which all the characteristics work is refreshing and adds to the complexity.”

**Aroma:** “Light caramel and red wine notes, with moderately strong earthy Brett notes. A bit of mint on top of plum and tannins. Upfront honey-like sweetness with an herbal, lavenderesque component.” **Flavor:** “Lactic sourness up front gives way to a pretty intense hops bitterness. The Brett character adds complexity. Earthy funky, old saddle, medium sour. Moderate fruity notes of lemon with a little grapefruit. Light mint, sharp herbaceous quality, moderately strong acidity and light caramel notes with a moderate tannic astringency. Earthy bitterness and light acidity lingers in the aftertaste with light sweetness.” **Overall:** “Good beer, but the earthy tannic bitterness dominates and lingers for quite some time. The red wine characteristics on the nose are quite inviting, but the earthy tannins and bitterness of the flavor itself are a bit overpowering. Big and complex flavors. The aftertaste is not completely harmonious. Some lingering bitterness fights with the woody and earthy notes. Good tartness and fruity notes but the body is a bit thin.”

Sweet, almost candy-like berry aromas dominate some subtle funky notes. A dry and slightly astringent tart berry flavor counters the gentler funk and sourness. Flavors of white wine, oaky tannins, and a curious cinnamon and nutmeg-like spiciness dance in the background.

**Aroma:** “Floral and herbal hops aromas—jasmine and chamomile. Strong hops notes of pine and light citrus mixed with a touch of sourness. The dank hops aroma is awesome and then the touch of sour makes it even better.” **Flavor:** “Nice earthy hops flavor with a round lactic sourness to it. Grainy sweet malt profile supports the flavors nicely. Moderate sour notes fade into a mild bitter note, then blood orange notes emerge as it warms. Tropical fruits and a touch of acetic give way to a big herbal hops flavor. Hops bitterness is just enough to showcase the hops aroma and flavor.” **Overall:** “Surprisingly refreshing given how complex this beer is. Big hops in a sour can get busy quickly, and this is a complicated beer, but the approach and execution is fantastic. Lots of raw dry-hop flavor. Hops and lactic sourness work so well together here. Hops lovers will find this one very enjoyable.”

**Aroma:** “Big pineapple, moderate sweaty, sharp Brett. Earthy and woody tobac- co-barn or tack-room notes underpin tropical pineapple or jackfruit highlights. As it warms, grainy malt and just a touch of floral hops comes through.” **Flavor:** “Multidimensional without being overbearing. Firm, pleasing lactic sourness acts as a backbone to hang multiple flavors. Brett earthiness pro- vides a pineapple-y, horsey complexity that really works well with the sour. Moderate acidity, lemon zest, light pear, and apple. It’s everything you would expect—earthy, woody, wild, and all the components combine to become greater than the sum of the parts.” **Overall:** “The balance of sour and funk in this beer is beautiful. Sour with moderate acidity and moderate bitterness. Slight lingering bitterness, but a great introductory funky beer with a Brett character that reminds me of Orval that has a few months (not years) under its belt.”

**Aroma:** “Lovely aromatics—floral, honey, berry, and light pineapple with a bit of apricot and cherry. Mild sweaty *Brett* goodness and more as it warms.” **Flavor:** “Flowers first with delicate berry notes, moderate jammy notes and acidity, some sweet malt, light lemon zest, and big raspberry. Fruit tannins and acidity help balance the sweetness. Just enough bitterness to round things out with some *Brett* in the aftertaste. Light tannic notes add structure and support fruit and sour notes. High tartness with a slight “fresh hops” note.” **Overall:** “This is a big fruity, jammy beer, with supporting acids and *Brett*-derived fruit notes such as pineapple. Fruit lovers should drink it cool, while *Brett* lovers should let it warm up to bring out more funk. The initial taste up front reminds me of homegrown hops. It would pair well with pan-seared salmon or spicy tuna rolls, and it would be a great marinade for ceviche.”

**Aroma:** “Earthy and deep, with the aroma of a big fruit stash hiding behind the corner. Floral components, and light cherry note, perhaps blackberry, and light raspberry. Some light _Brett_ funk and light-to-moderate acidity.” **Flavor:** “Smooth and slightly sweet with a potent fruit flavor that is a bit of a mélange and hard to place. Moderately strong berry and tasty L_acto _sourness with a champagne-like effervescence.” **Overall:** “I like the spritzy nature of this beer. It’s simultaneously light and substantial. Well-balanced, all the flavors complement each other nicely. Firm sourness up front with fruit following quickly. The earthy/woody character is assertive. The berry notes are there, as is the _Brett_ and _Lacto_ character, but none of them are out of place. This is an easy drinking berry sour that could be enjoyed by itself or with a light meal (savory crepes come to mind).”