TRVE Brewing Co Waking Realm Sour Ale

It was VE day recently so I decide to take a few hours  with Mum, Dad and the neighbours to celebrate (we make sure that we socially distanced appropriately.) Dad had already loaded the fridge up with some beers but this is one I’d been keen to try so, being your typical lazy only child, I asked Dad to add it to the stash he’d put in the fridge. More fool him, he did!

Now I like sour beers.  I think they’re more refreshing than your traditional lagers on a hot day. It’s a taste I acquired whilst working for Kelly Barbenson at Beer Ambleside so I was really looking forward to trying this one. It was, after all, £7.75 a can

It sounded great. A golden sour ale with lemon, lime, orange and grapefruit peel.

Mum and Dad tried it first. Dad said it tasted like lightly fruit flavoured vinegar. Mum’s face said it all. She didn’t have to use words. Simon, Nina and Mick, our neighbours all tried it. Mick thought we were trying to poison him! I promise we weren’t Mick!

The aromas of the beer smelled like, well sour patch sweets. It was a very definitive smell. The body was light, but extremely fizzy, I am unsure whether this is because of the beer being a soured golden ale or because of some form of secondary fermentation in the can. Honestly this overpowered everything and made every sip feel like a full bottle of lager. Flavour-wise it was lacking immensely, the lemon sour flavour took over the entire beer, meaning the zest and smoothness from the grapefruit and orange was left for dead.

I tried to drink it. I really did. I really wanted to like it but I it had no redeeming characteristics to it whatsoever.

I continued persevering until, in the end, Mum took it off me and tipped it away.

There’s no point in my trying to extol the virtues of this one. It just wasn’t for me.  Unless you’re desperate to drink something that tastes like the lemon sours from childhood, don’t try it.