Adult learning trip to local brewery

Not local food this time, but local beer!

Beer that is not only local, but organic, some of it Fair Trade and all of it VEGAN ! My idea of heaven!
We were taken by minibus to the Brewery at Cragg Vale and spent a most interesting, and very sociable, evening there! The Brewery opened about 6 years ago and has gone from strength to strength.There are now 8 beers to choose from plus a special each month.
The beers’ taste and style vary widely as we were soon to discover when offered our samples! If we’d taken full advantage of the jugs presented to us, I doubt we’d have been able to stagger back to the minibus!

After an introductory talk by Sue, we tried 3 of the beers then were taken on a very thorough tour by Wim, co-owner and Master Brewer. We were really impressed by the processes as we were led from room to room and saw where the beer was mashed, brewed, bottled and labelled. Cask beer is also available in some local pubs.
Everywhere was spotlessly clean and super efficient.We saw the different malts used, the hops and all the flavourings; everything natural, pure, organic and obviously of the highest quality.
We returned to the Shop / Bar to sample the rest of the beers and something to nibble on too – samosas and vegan pasties, also made locally. Everyone had their own favourite beer, of course. I particularly like the Stoodley Stout and the Moor Ale (with a hint of heather !) which I hadn’t tried before, although I have to say there was a single beer I didn’t enjoy. The Ginger Pale Ale went down well with most of us and if you like a wheat beer, Hebden’s Wheat would be the one to choose.

The shop is open Monday – Friday, 9am – 5pm, you can also buy online.Some Tod pubs offer the beer as a ‘Guest’ but not as a regular .. we need to ask for Little Valley every time we go into a pub in our town, then perhaps they’ll get the message! You can buy bottles in the Wine Merchants on Halifax Rd and at Oasis in Hebden Bridge. It’s also available at Moyle’s, Nelson’s and the trade Club in Hebden Bridge, but is always worth asking for, wherever you are.
Take a look at the website www.littlevalleybrewery.co.uk and if you’re a beer drinker and haven’t yet tried any LV, make it a New Year Resolution to do so! You won’t be disappointed!