Valhalla Island Bere

Brewed by Valhalla
Style: Traditional Ale
Unst, Shetland, Scotland

Serve in Dimpled mug, English pint, Stein, Yard

Bottle, Rehills, Ncl. Pours dusty orange, with a slight haze. Aroma is licquorice, faintly grassy and quite astringent. On the tongue, it is fairly sour-tasting, bitter and thin, flat in appearance, with the sourness continuing in the aftertaste. As previously posted, an acquired taste and certainly not one I’d like to repeat in a hurry.

[500ml bottle, Valhalla Brewery] Hazy brown colour on the pour, aromas of wood smoke. Tastes a bit like an ashtray, some hops at the end. Lingering and astringent, slightly smoky aftertaste. Unusually musty with the added bere barley, but quite nice. Clearly an acquired taste [25012008]

Cask, gravity, at The Cambridge Blue, Cambridge, in the 3rd CB Festival ’10. Copper orange. Aroma of yeast, grapefruit and honey. Quite an interesting fruity taste with gooseberry and over ripe plums. Slight bitterness. Unusual.

Tasted at Cardinal, Stavanger.Pours hazy straw coloured with a very small white head. Weak grassy hops in the nose. Watery mouthfeel. Light sour taste, acidic notes as well, far from good.

500 ml bottle, courtesy of Cardinal Pub & Bar, Stavanger. Like all bottled beers from this brewery, it is filtered to remove all remaining yeast (but possibly not pasteurised?). ABV is 4.2%. Brewed with "bere", traditional wild barley. Deep golden colour, low white head. Malty and distinctly "dusty" aroma, weak hints of fruit. The flavour has much of the (lack of) character of a standard English bitter, "dusty" notes again, quite dry, with a very moderate fruitiness in the finish. The aftertaste has a distinct hoppy bitterness, with a hint of resin. I’ve had better, I’ve had worse.

Pours hazy bright yellow with a white head. Hoppy smell of grass, herbs and citrus. Tastes sour with hints of creosote and peat. Finishes salty. Light to medium bodied, watery texture, flat. Although interesting taste, its really not very good. (9.12.2009 Bottle @ Cardinal, Onsdag^2)

19.09.2009, on tap at the Cloister, Edinburgh. Amber colour with white head. Malty aroma. Very smooth with sweet aftertaste. Low bitterness.

Bottle 50cl.
Clear medium amber orange color with a small to average, frothy to creamy, good lacing, mostly lasting, off-white head. Aroma is moderate smoke - peat, rubber. Flavor is moderate sweet and bitter with a average to long duration. Body is medium, texture is oily to watery, carbonation is soft to flat. [20090621]