Locale Skagit Valley Alba
Pike Brewing Company

 

 

 

I bought a bottle of Locale Skagit Valley Alba in a bottle shop. Poured in to a pint glass.

Pours a straw gold color, cloudy, with a frithy head comprised of very small bubbles.

Smells a lot like a pilsner. Bitter wet grain aroma.

Tastes like a pilsner as well. bitter cereal flavor.

Mouthfeel is full for a pilsner, but generally light and clean. Lingering dry bitter aftertaste.

Overall an OK brew,. Not a lot of different flavors going on, and frankly it smells and tastes like a little like macro-lager. Better than that, but...

 

Poured from 22oz bomber into my Fremont globe.

Appearance: rich gold hue with a little bit of haze and a moderate effervescence. Head is a finger of frothy ivory foam that doesn't stick around too long but leaves a relatively nice lace. Not too bad.

Smell: slightly toasty malt with a little bit of a sweet wet-hop aroma. The hops have a slightly fruity, slightly earthy character. Decent.

Taste: a sweet malt base with a rather floral hop character; I was not expecting that based on the aroma. With the floral hops and the toasty malt, there's a slightly soapy result; it's actually not bad at all.

Mouthfeel: medium body with a good carbonation and a surprisingly smooth creaminess for the style. I rather like it.

Overall: an interesting concept for a beer. I usually like floral/soapy pale ales and this isn't a bad one.

 

 

Beautiful sudsy pour, golden amber in the Affligem chalice. The warm malty taste is accentuated by the honey. I like the barley and wheat mix. There's an interesting winey note, but mostly it's the different textures of malt plus the resiny hops and a splash of the aromatic Cascades. Quite delicious and quaffable.

The label highlights Skagit County, but it's the wheat malt. What's funny about this is this year barley is suddenly a big crop in Skagit Valley. So I'm hoping next year's version will be Palouse wheat and Skagit barley.

From the 22 oz bottle purchased at Chuck's 85th St. Market in Seattle. As much as I like this, the $10.59 price tag is extortionate, and the reason this farm to lips business is still kind of silly.

22oz bomber served in a pint glass. Pours a hazy golden color with very little head. Unique nose which must be from the wildflower honey. Taste is slightly sweet. All in all a very good summer beer.

 

 

 

 

 

Poured into a Seattle Beer Week pint glass. Pours a medium golden amber with a half finger white head with good retention and nice lacing. Aroma of sweet biscuit malt, light citrus hops, melon and light, apple juice. Flavor follows with biscuit malt and mixed light fruit (melons, light berries and grapes) supporting light citrus hops. Medium bodied. There are some interesting, but almost unidentifiable light fruit flavors in here that balance well with the biscuity malt. Hopping is subdued, but flavorful. I'm drifting away from light to moderately hopped pale ales these days, but this new malt variety has a great mixture of malty and fruit flavors; this all pulls together nicely and was a pleasure to drink.

Pours a very pale straw yellow. A touch of opacity and a fine white head that settles into colonies and laces the glass beautiully.

As soon as the pop tops I started getting grassy hops and something sweet. Diving in a little deeper I get honey sweet and white wine grapes and golden raisins. Not quite what I was expecting. Interesting though. There's some mild floral sweetness as well, but the white grape juice really drives this one. It's not bad, but it takes some getting used to.
Thicker than I would have thought and sticky/chewy and some of the finest (in terms of 'size') carbonation in recent memory. The white grapes that dominated the aroma are a little more subtle here making way for the sweetness of the honey and the hops. Hops are fresh and grassy and a touch floral with a dank bitterness to the finish. Some nectar in there as well. Malts keep it crisp and refreshing as well. This is a really refreshing beer, and one that's growing on me as I make my way through the glass. Perfect for this first day of summer. Crisp and drinkable.

 

Tasted on tap at the brewpub, as part of their seasonal, limited offering.
A - Clear pale yellow, with fair amount of carbonation.
S - Light citrusy smell to it, with oranges, grapefruit, and some other fruit that I cannot put my finger on.
T - Follows the smell. Amplifies it quite a bit actually. More orange, grapefruit, but finishes slightly toasted and nutty. And then there's that indescribable aroma of dragonfruit!?
F - Drinks like a pale ale should. Light in body, easily quaffable, and thirst-quenching.
O - A very good take on a pale ale, and ideally suited for the Washington summers. Hope to grab a few pints of this before the summer ends.