r/CraftBeer • u/Shoddy_Telephone5746 • 21d ago

Discussion Shipping Sour beers internationally

Hey everyone

Thinking about shipping some sours from Halftime to my freight forwarder in TX for onward delivery to me in Africa.

Probably Mortalis, Drekker and RAR. We don't get these here and I really want to try out some sour beers.

Common perception is, the cans may bulge or burst open during the 6-10 day airfreight duration. Is this honestly a valid concern? Or will they be mostly safe?

I've tried almost every single beer style sans this and really want to check this off my bucket list.
And no, substitutes or variants aren't sold here.

3 Upvotes

81% Upvoted

12 comments sorted by

3

u/KennyShowers 21d ago

If they have any of Sapwood’s Smüzi series definitely get that over Mortalis/RaR/Drekker.

1

u/Shoddy_Telephone5746 21d ago

Unfortunately no Smuzi in stock but they have Corporate Ladders Rum Barrel aged sour which looks interesting / promising

3

u/jtsa5 21d ago

They should be okay but they can explode at room temps if kept for a while. For a short time they should be okay. They should be in ziplock bags and taped shut just in case.

I've seen them explode and it's pretty crazy when it happens.

1

u/Shoddy_Telephone5746 21d ago

That's reassuring. Thank you

2

u/WheelsMan1 21d ago

I wouldn't try RAR. They're really bad for shipping. I've never had a problem with mortalis or drekker sours in the mail.

2

u/Shoddy_Telephone5746 21d ago

Thanks for this info.

Are Homes and Evil Twin relatively safe?

2

u/WheelsMan1 21d ago

I've never had a problem with Evil Twin and I've gotten it shipped a few time. I can't comment about Homes since I've never gotten them shipped.

2

u/Backpacker7385 US 17d ago

This is a risky proposition. You’re not talking about normal sour beers, you’re talking about explosive cans with tons of residual sugar waiting to go. I’d be nervous having those cans at warm temperatures for more than a day or two.

1

u/Shoddy_Telephone5746 17d ago

Thanks for sharing. What sour type beers would be better suited for this trip?

Would a Sour IPA fare better?

Say, something from Hudson Valley with about 8% Abv? I'm hoping the higher Abv will/should keep things in check during the trip.

Any idea?

3

u/Backpacker7385 US 17d ago

No, ABV isn’t really relevant to this risk (within the normal range). You’ll be safer with more traditional sour styles that have full fermentation. Things like lambics, gueuze, Berliner weisse, gose, etc.

1

u/Content_Distance5623 21d ago

Will these have any chance of sitting in a hot warehouse, back of a semi truck, cargo container for longer than a day?

If the answer is yes, I wouldn’t risk shipping those heavily fruited sours.