Kirkstall Brewery Pale Ales

Brewery: KirkstallBrewery | Find them: Home | Kirkstall Brewery

Kirkstall Brewery is a Leeds-based brewery that we absolutely love. We’ve tried several of their beers before, including two from this selection – Virtuous (several times on draft) and Three Swords (on cask in a village pub).

Virtuous was as good as ever, while we both thought Three Swords was better out of the can (this could be down to how long the cask had been on when we tried it). Of the five, Spokane was our favourite, but they were all very good beers.

The beers

Spokane: West Coast IPA (6%)

Brewer’s note: With a crisp, dry finish typical of our lead brewer Will Inman, Spokane first floods the senses with grapefruit zest, pine, with a touch of mandarin. The carbonation bursts into life on the tongue, lifting the pine, bitter orange and grapefruit, with the malt base keeping all checks and balances.

Virtuous: Aromatic Session IPA (4.5%)

Brewer’s note: Gluten-free and vegan, our flagship session IPA is a crisp, bright, west coast style session. All of that grapefruit peel, lemon and lime on the nose. Tropical and citrus fruits dominate, with hints of pine and a touch blueberry, balanced by its complex malt base and a solid carbonation.

Judicious: Juicy Pale Ale (4.8%)

Brewer’s note: Tropical, juicy, hazy, pale ale. Packed full of pink grapefruit, mango, pineapple, lychee, passion fruit, and peach flavours, bouncing on a bed of coconut.

Three Swords: Extra Pale Ale (4.5%)

Brewer’s note: The name is derived from the coat of arms used by the Cistercian monks of Kirkstall Abbey. Three American hop varieties are used in abundance to deliver a crisp, aromatic pale ale with clean and refreshing citrus-fruit flavours.

Providence: New England Pale (5.2%)

Brewer’s note: Our session New England pale ale has bags of Citra, Amarillo and Ekaunot cryo hops. Think orange, pink grapefruit, sweet citrus balanced with freshly cut grass, pine and a complete lack of bitterness.