Less than a mile later in the Tour de Kitsap we rolled into Valhöll Brewing, located in a warehouse set back from the main road.  They’ll be moving to a new location more in the center of town this summer.  Maybe in July.  They’ll have logo glasses for sale then, too.  So yeah, a re-visit will be in order.  Anyway, the big group that showed up right before we left Sound Brewing was also here.  They were on a birthday brewery tour, but had skipped Slippery Pig.  Fun group, and one of them gave us cards for a free drink at Sips Espresso (still need to take advantage of that, actually).

Valhöll Brewing tasters lined up and ready to go — Poulsbo, WA

Rob’s Picks
• Belgian Wit – 5.2% – Nice sweetness and banana flavor.  Interesting bitterness.  Quite nice.
• Bob’s Tripel – 9.5% – Bubbly and spicy start to alcohol flavor.  Banana sweetness finish.  Fun!
• Poulsbo Pale Ale – 5.5% – Good maltiness, with nice underlying bitterness.  Very drinkable.

The Rest
• Yggdrasil Belgian IPA – 6.8% – Kinda bitter, kinda malty.  Not too Belgian, as far as I can tell.  Slight banana/clove flavor, but tries to do too many things.
• Crimson Cove Rye – 8.8% – Banana/clove flavor with malty base. Rye is pretty subtle.
• Rye PA – 7.6% -Very easy drinking. Not particularly hoppy.  Banana/clove flavor, with slight honey sweetness.  Seems unfiltered — gives it some body.

I have to say, for a town with Scandinavian roots, there sure are a lot of Belgian-style beers in Poulsbo.  Guess it’s better than lutefisk beer.  At this point in the Tour de Kitsap, we decided to head back via Kingston, with a stop at the Hood Canal Brewery.  The birthday tour group was heading the same way, so we decided to race and see who would make it to the next brewery first.  Pedal power!