Lost Abbey Cable Car
San Marcos, California

Cable Car from Lost Abbey Brewing is a division of Port Brewing, the highly decorated brewpub and brewery in Southern California. With a cabinet full of awards to display their pedigree, the brewers set out to create a sour ale for their friends at Toronados, a preeminent beer bar in San Francisco. Cable Car is sour from the funky Brettanomyces yeast, providing an acidic sour quality and dry, earthy finish (think sour dough bread). There is a load of lemon tang on this medium bodied, well-carbonated 7% ABV ale. Aptly celebrates Toronados’ 20-year reign over the San Francisco beer culture.

Russian River Supplication
Santa Rosa, California

Russian River Brewing Company is famous for their barrel-aged creations. Located in the heart of Sonoma County, where wine flows freely, wine barrels are re-used to age beer. Supplication, one of these ales has been aging in local Pinot Noir wine barrels for one year along with sour cherries. Brettanomyces yeast is added to this honey-brown colored ale for extra leathery funk. Lactobacillus and Pedicoccus, two types of bacteria from the used wine barrels, impart a very tart zing. The taste is tart up front before giving way to the smooth wood-aged components on the finish. Grape flavors leap out at you, along with lemon and cherry. The acidic quality is not overpowering at all and neither is the 7% ABV.