Lovibonds: Sour Grapes

In March 2024, Lovibonds Brewery in Henley announced that it had been winding down production, and would sadly be closing its doors. Owner Jeff Rosenmeier wrote on Instagram:

"Over the past couple of years it has become increasingly difficult to keep the business viable and passion can only go so far."

In case you hadn’t heard of them, Lovibonds were right at the forefront of the craft beer wave in the UK. Jeff, having moved over from Wisconsin in 1994, started the fledgling brewery in Henley before ‘nanobrewery’ was even a recognised term.

His hop-forward and creative brewing was a draw to the heart of Henley for many years, with the tap room and the brewery itself inspiring much of what to follow – not least influencing our journey at Siren, and even more recently Indie Rabble in Windsor.

With the brewery closure impending, some very special Lovibonds bottles – the multi award winning Sour Grapes – were still sitting in their warehouse, unlabelled. Jeff needed the stock shifted, but crucially did not want to see it go to waste. So we offered to purchase the stock, and preserve this slice of local brewing heritage.

The brewing bug bit Jeff Rosenmeier in 1994 after tasting a friend’s home made stout at a Wisconsin summer BBQ. One of many ‘beer epiphanies’, Jeff couldn’t believe the result and the next day bought brewing equipment and a book, soon discovering a hidden passion.

Jeff moved to Henley-on-Thames in 1996 and fell in love with the beauty of the area. He continued to develop his brewing skills while taking a keen interest in the town’s rich brewing tradition and the up and coming craft brewing movement.

“Sour Grapes” started out as a fermentation mistake with Lovibonds flagship Henley Gold, with lactobacillus out-competing their wheat beer strain of yeast. The taste was nowhere near Henley Gold, but tasted so good that it didn’t deserve to go down the drain! It had the sourness of a Belgian Lambic, but without the funk, so they acquired a few used Pinot Noir barrels and aged this sour beer with a concoction of some of their other favourite micro flora. 

This exact batch went on to win a Gold medal in the ‘Wood & Barrel Aged Sour Beer’ category in the World Beer Cup in 2012 - the most hotly competed beer competition in the world.

The beer itself is described as “Golden hue with white foam. Oak, funk and acidity on the nose. Bready with long citrus sourness, finishing nice and dry with oak coming through.”

These bottles, the last of their kind, are a blend of 5 barrels with an average aging time of 36 months. We hope you'll enjoy drinking Sour Grapes, which can be purchased through the link below in 750ml bottles.

BUY LOVIBONDS SOUR GRAPES