Half Remembered Dream

The label that adorns the 750mL bottles of Half Remembered Dream indicates that the “blend of golden sour beers aged in oak barrels with rose hips and hibiscus” contained within “ages gracefully”. So I did something that I thought myself unable to do—I let the stuff age. Nothing ridiculous. I didn’t cellar it for five years or anything. But I let the beer, brewed and bottled in August 2018, sit until January 2020. Not nothing when you consider both my small living space and the volume of beer I consume.

Half Remembered Dream comes from Small Pony Barrel Works out of Kanata, Ontario. It’s a 5% barrel-aged sour with a rose gold colour, just a touch of sediment, a short-lived off-white head, and a pretty decent constellation of carbonation. It has a tart, nectarine and berry nose accented with a floral hint. The tartness and not-quite-ripe nectarine elements are evident in the flavour as well. Barrel-aged woodiness is present, but not dominant. There is almost no bitterness to speak of, but the beer’s inherent sourness balances out what might otherwise be a too sweet offering.

Never having tasted it fresh, I can’t say if letting Half Remembered Dream marinate for over a year was worthwhile. However, I’ll say I really enjoyed what turned up in my glass. I’d have liked the alcohol content to have been a bit higher, but the delicate, slightly floral elements were able to shine as a result.

Rating: 8.5 out of 10.