USA Today named Athens, Ga., one of the South's most underrated food cities. Athens-based Creature Comforts was one of a handful of destinations cited in the article.

Credit: Yvonne Zusel

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Credit: Yvonne Zusel

BY WYATT WILLIAMS

Last year was the year of sour beer in Atlanta, although you might not have noticed.

In some places, the change was subtle. Restaurant beer menus, the kind that offer only a few options between pilsners, ales and IPAs, began to stock an occasional Berliner weisse or tart saison.

On the other hand, Atlanta’s brewpubs, the beer-centric bars that stock phone book-length selections, were the epicenter of the craze. Draft menus were overwhelmed with tart, dry and otherwise acidic brews from both near and far.

So, what’s the fuss? For starters, while American craft brewers long have put their mark on IPAs and Belgian-style ales, there hasn’t been as much domestic experimentation with sour beers until recently. In part, that’s because they’re simply hard to make.

Georgia brewers are producing a number of impressive sour beers.

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