I was recently talking to someone from Lithuania who told me that there is a tradition of putting a spoon full of sour cream into a “strong dark beer”, I assume would be a heavy porter or imperial stout. But an internet search has not come up with any references to this practice. I was wondering if anyone else has heard of this.
Yes it’s true. This can also be done with ice cream, but sour cream seems to be the more popular choice.
Dimi,
What would be reason behind it?
Interesting, I just asked my Wife who is from Poland and she has never heard of it.
I’m interested mainly because it would be simply exploring a different way that local folks in that region consume beer. I’ve done a lot of reading about the history of alcoholic beverages, and eventually would like to sample examples from various parts of the world. I’m going to try mixing sour cream in at least once. Dimik, do you know what style of beer it is done to most often? Imperial stout, porter? Probably similar (but not as strong) as mixing heavy cream and whiskey.
I honestly have no idea what the reason behind this is and find the very idea disgusting. A friend from Belarus told me that they also do it there.
My guess would be that this is mostly done with porters because stouts aren’t very popular in those regions (or even very unpopular). Probably something sweet that is balanced by the sourness… really I have no idea.
Though I did just realize that my Wife (again, Poland) puts sour cream on a lot of different foods…
why ruin a completely good beer with sour cream? That’s like adding fruit to a beer. 
Well yeah sour cream pretty much improves just about everything…
Sure doesn’t sound very good.
I know it is common to add sour cream to a lot of soups, to add creaminess.
If you consider the region and cuisine, it might just be customary as in adding sour cream to something like borscht. It softens the mouth feel and offers a creamy texture. While I don’t think I’d make it a habit, I’d try it in regional beer. It might cut the sweetness and actually be pretty ok. I’d at least try it.
Also, as someone with a culinary background, I’d plan on whisking the sour cream to an almost pourable consistency. Otherwise it’ll likely clump and that… would be pretty awful imho.
I thought about the whisking part too, Steppedonapoptop. I don’t think I would want it to be clumpy. There are so many really strange things that people eat and drink in this world, and some of the strange things aren’t really too bad. So if this is the way that they occasionally drink their beer, I’m willing to give it a try. I can always say afterwards that I tried it, if I like it or not. I’m more interested in expanding my horizons in the beer world.
