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Styles · Catharina Sour

Beer style · BJCP 2021 X4

Catharina Sour

Provisional Styles

Published ranges These are the ranges the BJCP 2021 guidelines publish for this style.

Original gravity
1.039–1.048
Final gravity
1.004–1.012
Bitterness
2–8 IBU
Color
2–6 SRM (4–12 EBC)
Alcohol
4.0–5.5 % ABV

What it is

A kettle-soured wheat beer from Santa Catarina, built around fresh fruit rather than barrel character. Clean lactic acidity, almost no bitterness at 2 to 8 IBU, and light enough in body and alcohol to drink in the heat it was invented for.

Flavor

What a Catharina Sour should taste like, on the three wheels the studio scores every recipe against. The shaded ring is the style’s range on each axis, from 0 at the center to 5 at the edge.

Hops

Hops stay in the background: none of their character belongs.

Malt

Grainy, with room for bready/biscuit or sweet/honey.

Fermentation

Tart, with room for clean or fruity esters.

Hops that suit it

None on character. The hops in this style are there for bitterness and balance, and any variety whose aroma you would notice is out of place.

Yeasts that suit it

Strains the lab made for beers like this one, whose fermentation character sits inside the style’s wheel. A strain sold by several labs is listed once; its page names the others.

Style numbers, names and vital statistics are from the BJCP 2021 Beer Style Guidelines, where you will find the official descriptions. The descriptions and flavor wheels here are Beerwright’s own. Beerwright is not affiliated with or endorsed by the BJCP.