ALAMEDA, Calif. — Almanac Beer Co. is beyond stoked to announce the forthcoming launch of Blueberry Sournova, the first in our cosmic new Sournova Series of barrel-aged 16oz sour cans. These interstellar wonders are naturally conditioned, mixed-culture sour ales, aged for months with real fruit in oak barrels creating astronomically juicy, tart, and refreshing brews. We’ll be launching a new Sournova variety every few months, so you can look forward to wild new discoveries on a regular basis!
A Cosmic Collision: Barrel-Aged Sour Beer Meets 16oz Aluminum Cans
We’ve been waiting for the right moment to take one giant leap for beerkind: offering authentic mixed-fermentation, oak-aged beers in super convenient 16oz canned 4-packs. There are many canned kettle sours in the universe, but there are very few true barrel-aged sours available in cans. We decided to fill this void and the Sournova series was born!
Kettle or Barrel: Houston, What’s The Difference?
Typically, canned sours are “kettle sours”. They’re popular because brewers can produce them quickly as they don’t require mixed-culture fermentations or barrel-aging. The tartness found in kettle sours is created by adding lactobacillus (our bacterial friends that make yogurt) directly to the kettle, which gives the beer a quick dose of acidity with predictable results. The resulting flavor profiles are often more one-note than mixed-fermentation sours. The Sournova series is fermented using a blend of Saccharomyces, Brettanomyces, Lactobacillus and other novel microflora. This mixed-culture is allowed to continuously ferment over months with real fruit in oak barrels. Individual casks are then hand selected and blended by our extraterrestrial brewers, creating a deeply nuanced and multi-dimensional sour beer.
Real Fruit Grown By Real Earthlings
Our motto has always been Farm To Barrel and it’s still our motto today. We believe using real fruit makes better beer. It’s that simple. The 9,000 lbs of organic whole blueberries used in Blueberry Sournova were grown on the family-owned and operated Sierra Cascade Farms in Butte County, California. We source thousands of pounds of imperfect whole fruit, often grown right here in California by small, local farmers for each Sournova release. Until we can grow fruit on Mars, that’s how it’ll stay.
Sharing Our Cosmic Creativity
Almanac’s mission is to share our passion for beer and innovation with as many people as we can. After five years of developing our brewing and aging techniques, and with the efficiencies provided by our amazing new brewery and barrel house in Alameda, we are now able to offer high quality barrel-aged sour beer at a cosmically attractive price point (suggested retail price is $16.99/4pk/16oz in CA) without compromising on any of our values. Our Sournova cans are the perfect co-pilots whether you’re celebrating a stratospheric accomplishment, kicking it with other intrepid adventurers, or simply looking up at the stars in the sky. Happy exploring!