What a beautiful looking pint this is! Valkyrie, an American pale ale, is a deep golden ale that has a slight pink tinge as it pours, as I've found with all of my Rudgate ales so far. It has a small, loose cream coloured head that disperses to leave a thin foam layer.
The aroma is delicious; it has quite a sweet smell of hops, mouthwatering gooey caramel and soft ripe tropical fruits. All of these smells transfer to the taste which is predominantly sweet caramel drizzled over ripe, juicy tropical fruits. I could definitely taste passion fruit but not so much of the citrus that is mentioned on the label; as I'm not a fan of too much citrus, I certainly wasn't disappointed about that.
Valkyrie has a very soft mouthfeel, which resulted in a couple of lost points on my scorecard; it is so softly carbonated that you can hardly feel any bubbles at all. It has a medium body but is slightly on the watery side, which isn't unexpected in an APA.
I often find American pale ales too harsh but I really liked this one; it isn't bitter at all and the sweetness level is just right. I was surprised how much I liked the passion fruit flavour; it's very unusual and gives the ale a distinct flavour. Well done Rudgate, Ale Be Seeing Valkyrie again when I fancy a pale ale.
Brewed by Rudgate Brewery, York
5.0% ABV
My rating:
Find out more at Rudgate Brewery
No comments:
Post a Comment