White Wife
Valhalla Brewery (Sheltand Refreshments Ltd)

 

Tasted this beer at the recent Catford Beerfestival in London. The name itself, after an alleged ghostly figure spotted not far from the brewery, is quite interesting, as is the location of this brewery, being the most northerly brewery in Britain on Shetland Isles off the northern coast of Scotland.

It pours a lightly hazy, light amber colour, with a sparse white head and minimum carbonation. The nose denotes pungent hayish and wild plant-like grassy hops, mixed with strong, tart mead-like nose and some lightly sweet malts. Very different and interesting note this beer has... The palate is full of nuts with the sharp edge, and lightly tart malty flavour. Very interesting and extremely pleasant taste indeed. The aftertaste is round, warmish rich nutty and fruity hoppy, leaving good lingering bitterness in the back of the throat. The overall mouthfeel turns from rich to a bit flat half-way through drinking, but good depth of bitterness remains throughout. Medium-bodied and full-flavoured against its very low alcoholic strength. It is a distinctive, exciting, unusual and quaffable brew by all means.