Sour beers are huge right now and Indeed Brewing has one of the better programs around. The Wooden Soul Series is run by Adam Theis and is coming up on one year now. Adam was first introduced to sours at Town Hall Brewery where he brewed under Mike Hoops. “We got La Folie there [a sour beer from New Belgium] and I was like oh my god” says Theis. “It was really intriguing to me.”
He left Town Hall and went up to Third Street for a little while until he was contacted by Tom Whisenand and Josh Bischoff from Indeed. The Northeast brewery really wanted to start up a sour program and since they had worked with him previously at Town Hall, the move made sense. “I was a fan of sour beer, and I couldn’t pass that up” he says.
The Wooden Soul beers start out just like the others in that they are brewed and fermented at the regular brewery prior to making their way over to Adam’s house of funk which is just down Broadway. So far there have been five entries in the series, a set that rivals any being brewed here in the state.
Wooden Soul #1 Saison
Wooden Soul #2 Sour Blonde Ale
Wooden Soul #3 Sour Blonde Ale aged on cherries
Wooden Soul #4 Sour Blonde Ale aged on grapefruit
Wooden Soul #5 Saison fermented with apple juice
The most popular one around town seems to be #3 which was a Sour Blonde Ale aged on cherries. This is not Adam’s favorite though so far. “A lot of people liked #3, but it wasn’t my favorite. I really like citrus fruit so I’d probably go with the grapefruit [Wooden Soul #4] one as my favorite” he says.
There is one that hasn’t been released yet that he’s very excited about. It’s a Red and Brown Ale mix which is aged on cherries in a very unique barrel. One that Adam states is working really well right now. This brew will make an appearance at Sour Social which is a beer dinner being hosted by Republic on Saturday. The event itself will pair six dishes with sour beers from both breweries (New Belgium and Indeed) in a casual environment.
Overall the sour program has been a successful operation and should only grow from here. “We’ve experimented with everything and we are always trying out new techniques. These beers are just a slow evolution that plays out right in front of us” says Adam.
If you are looking for tickets to the event Saturday, you can purchase them here for $50 plus fees.
Cheers!
