It’s reached an acceptable hour in the day where you can open a bottle of beer and not be frowned upon. Besides – I’ve been working hard all morning so why not.
Two ales from Little Valley remain – this one being the Cragg Vale Bitter.
Cragg Vale (purple bottle top) headlines as bold and malty.
Bottle notes say: “… the bottle is a classic Yorkshire Bitter. The beer is rich and red brown with a full and rounded body. It uses Challenger and Goldings hops giving it a crisp and fruity taste with a spice and grapefruit aroma.”
The usual sediment rules are suggested for this bottle conditioned ale. I didn’t see any sediment in mine when I poured it.
Verdict: Oooh. Pleasantly surprised. I expected a bitter bitter but this one isn’t. It is indeed full of body and a hint of spice and grapefruit – so their bottle notes are spot on. I could probably drink this all day – but I only have the one bottle so this is going to go on my ‘need to buy more’ list.
I can’t imagine getting fed up with this either. I know the first beer of the day goes down relatively quickly – but this one went down too quickly. It’s very good.
This is a damn good bottle. I can thoroughly recommend it. Now I’m off to search for a supplier.
