Hello, and welcome back to the Eternal Hoptimists,
Not knowing what a ‘Pickleback‘ is I relied upon trusty Google for help and discovered that it is a shot glass of pickling brine. Lovely. A look at the ingredients appear to back this up: strawberries, lime, chillis and vinegar are all listed. Hmm Only in Nightmares might be more appropriate. All rather interesting for a beer that is almost alcohol free. Things have come a long way since Kaliber.
So in the spirit of the Scotsman who once said to me ‘there’s no such thing as bad beer son, some of it just tastes a bit funny’ we shall give it a go.
The can is rather understated and not easy to photograph being shiny and reflective. It’s almost monochrome in lilac and shows a Japanese street scene.
- Name : Only in Dreams
- Brewery: Vault City Brewing, Edinburgh, Scotland
- Hops : Not specified
- Grain : Malted barley, wheat and oats
- Aroma : Slightly sour, chillies and something fruity but unidentifiable
- Appearance : Pale terracotta hued, opaque and looks thick almost like a smoothie. No head
- Body : Medium bodied and medium to low carbonation
- Taste : Slightly sour to start, with some zesty lime to follow. There’s some fruit in there, hints of strawberry possibly but I found hard to detect what. There’s some chili heat in the back of the throat in the aftertaste
- Dietary restrictions : Allergens highlighted. Marked not suitable for vegans
Do I like it? Not sure, it’s certainly not boring. It gets all the taste buds working at once and has a mouth-watering effect due to the unusual sour tang. Adding vinegar to beer on the face of it is obtuse to a seasoned drinker putting up with beer that tasted like Sarsons back in the 80’s. The pickleback hit, however, sort of works, like adding a small shot the brine from a jar of pickled chillies.
One I found interesting more than pleasurable, but I’m sure there will be big fans out there, it is certainly one to divide opinions. One I would say try and form your own opinion.
Our overall rating: 3.3/ 5.0
The|Eternal|Hoptimitsts 