Beer Review: Jorvik Blonde

Another of the ales gifted me by my students, this one was done because "you like Vikings". Basically a colleague and I had created, well, he created and I just filled in some details, a double lesson of awesome-ness about Vikings as raiders and traders. It was a fantastic day, I don't mind saying myself, and a supreme act of imagination by my colleague. So, the students were part right. I am fascinated with most things historical and Norsemen catch my fancy (one need only trace the influences in the poetry in this blog) but it was my colleague rather than I that deserved the beer for it.

Nevertheless, tonight it is the turn of Rudgate's Jorvik Blonde that describes itself as 'flaxen blonde ale' and thus straight away gains bonus points!

I was hasty and so forgot to wash up the all important glass and so I cannot comment on the colour. Aroma wise it was dry and strong, which is good in my book, with a good mouthful of hops to bring the bitter and citrus tones that I enjoy in my beers. At 4.8% ABV it is a pretty meaty ale for my latest adventures and showed this quickly in the first mouthful. A good opening of fizz allowing a mellowness and maltiness to peek through and then straight to the bitterness of the hops and ending with a taste not unlike Black Sheep. After taste is a lingerer but this is not a bad thing and brings you up short enough that you want a second taste, so not really a sipping beer as it is a serial sipping beer.

I am impressed by it, despite the weight it didn't have me dizzy or anything like that and sometimes these beers around 4.8% can do that, and it means that I got through the entire bottle relatively quickly. Having it with fish and chips rather than my usual spicy pizza helped and meant that I was able to kick back and relax a little whilst drinking. Alas, it means that I have not got much detail on it. I liked it, I liked it so much that I kind of forgot I was reviewing it at the same time.

Enjoy in the depths of a dark night, wrapped in a fur cloak, whilst reciting tales of Erik the Red in the old Norse language, the crackling flames from your fire making shadows dance off the walls of your round house. Drink through the fronds of a long beard, carefully braided for battle, and use it to ease the legal discussions that inevitably follow any raid as you debate whether there was sufficient permission to take slaves and kill or maim your foes.