Great British Beer Festival 2011
ABV: 4.5%
Origin: Hebden Bridge, West Yorkshire, England
Website: www.littlevalleybrewery.co.uk
Little Valley Organic Hebden's Wheat
My day of sampling British cask beers at this year’s Great British Beer Festival turned out to be rather lacklustre, but one pleasant surprise was this tasty organic Belgian-style wheat beer from the South Pennines. The brewery also produces a range of bottle conditioned beers, although the bottled version of this seems notably less highly rated online than the cask.
The cloudy yellow beer has a white, relatively sparse head and a slightly varnishy, estery and very fresh aroma. Coriander is clearly detectable and there’s an orangey, slightly plasticy scent too. A light, refreshing and subtly aromatic palate has citrus, coriander, cream, wheat and a tangy slightly acidic quality, holding its spicy, orange-lemon zest well in the mouth. A long and tangy finish delivers a hint of aniseed. One of the best British cask interpretations of the style I’ve yet encountered.
Read more about this beer at ratebeer.com: http://www.ratebeer.com/beer/little-valley-hebdens-wheat/59600/
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