Review: Half Pints' Old Red Barn Sour

Thanks Jonny for getting me a bottle of Half Pints' Old Red Barn Sour Beer which was a limited release at the brewery back in May. Sours aren't generally my style of beer, but it does its job as an after-dinner beer quite well. Old Red Barn was barrel aged for over two years before it was finally released.. they kept hinting about this beer since the creation but never would reveal what the beer actually WAS.. but hey.. who doesn't like a beer tease?

Appearance: A murky dark brown beer with a deep cherrywood red hue to it. Cookie dough beige head, thick thick cream head that's not going anywhere. Decent carbonation.

Aroma: The aging really helped this sour out. Light notes of oak thanks to the barrel, sour sour sour.. tart.. vinegar and sour cherries, a la kriek! There might be the aroma of a wood.. that reminds me of an old (clean) barn on the farm (no manure aromas, I swear.. more like light straw and hard work)

Taste: Vinegar, sour cherries, light oak woodiness, this is incredibly sour sour sour, a hint of vanilla, very similar to the sour cherry ales from Belgium, but it's missing a certain sweetness to it.. but hey.. if you're into sours like some people, you'll love this.

Overall Thoughts: While I may not be a sour beer fan, I can still appreciate it. It has a very sour, yet rich flavour of sour cherries, light oak, vanilla and vinegar. Seeing this is Manitoba's first sour, hopefully we see this again next year. 6.4% ABV, 23 IBU.

From the bottle: The Old Red Barn is our first foray into the wild world of sour beers. This special ale is fermented with a mixed yeast culture that takes almost two years to produce all the complex flavours that you're about to enjoy. Fermented in stainless then barre aged for two summers, the beer reminds one of the sweet rewards of patience with cherry pie, vanilla and almond aromas. The flavour is bracingly tart with a background of oaky vanilla and a low hop bitterness to accentuate the bready malts. Try it at 10C in a large Bordeaux glass with a creamy, warm Swiss Raclette or buttered scones with sour cherry preserves.

PS: I live on a farm so how about an old Red Barn with an EVEN OLDER Red Barn (90 years old)?