Drinking Snowdonia Pale Ale A Real Session Beer

Snowdonia Pale Ale comes from the popular Welsh brewery Purple Moose located in Porthmadog, North Wales. A perfect session beer, this golden pale ale weighs in at just 3.6% ABV. But is it any good?

Snowdonia Pale Ale is refreshing, fruity, hoppy with a nice bitter edge, it’s a good beer. It pours a light gold with a thin white head. On the nose it is hoppy with citrus notes of lemon and something else that is hard to identify. The taste is hoppy carrying a little bitterness with flavours of citrus lemon and peach or orange. It’s a refreshing crisp beer a gets a score of 4.3 out of 5.0.

All in all a decent pale ale to enjoy for any occasion.

Table Of Contents

Snowdonia Pale Ale Review

When I grabbed this beer from the fridge and decided to review it, I called it Eagle Beer a golden pale ale. After all that is what it says on the front of the bottle according to Google translating from Welsh to English. CWRW ERYRI (beer eagle) Golden Pale, so nothing strange about that.

However Lou who is Welsh said Eryri had something to do with Snowdonia, so it says Snowdonia Beer. But she wasn’t 100% sure.

Once I poured the beer and reviewed it, I took a look on the back of the bottle. It says ‘Snowdonia Ale – Cwrw Eryri – Golden Pale Ale, a little confusing.

So I take a look at the Purple Moose website where the beer is called Snowdonia Ale – Cwrw Eryri, and this is on the front of the bottle. Same label, just different wording on the front, so I guess it is called Snowdonia Ale, perhaps it’s made for the eagles.

I then tried a Google translate from English to Welsh typing in ‘Snowdonia Ale’ and it translates to ‘Cwrw Eryri’. Lou asked a colleague who is Welsh speaking and he confirmed Cwrw Eryri to be Snowdonia beer.

So forget the eagles, this is Snowdonia Beer.

Back to the pour and review.

Drinking Snowdonia Pale Ale

A calm controlled pour from Lou reveals a golden ale with a very modest white head. The head fades quickly to a thin cover, while streams of bubbles rise to the top of the glass.

A little light on the nose, however it is hoppy with citrus notes of lemon and something else that is hard to identify. It’s like a boiled sweet smell, like pear drops, but not pear, maybe orange or peach.

In for a sip and there is a hoppy taste carrying a satisfying bitterness with it. Some nice citrus bite follows with fruity flavours of sharp lemon and a soft fruit like peach or orange. The soft fruit balances out the bitterness with a little sweet finish.

Snowdonia Ale is a great beer, crisp, refreshing and fruity with a good bitter sweet balance. It feels bigger than its 3.6% ABV, and that is what kind of makes it so good.

Perfect for those times when you know you will be drinking a few beers with friends. I like it, and it gets a rate my beer score of 4.3 out of 5.0.

M’Lady like it too, saying “A crisp refreshing beer with citrus hints of lemon and maybe orange ending in a slight bitter finish.” Lou scores it a slightly lower 4.0 out of 5.0.

Funny how Lou got a bitter finish, whereas I got bitterness in the body and a sweet finish, crazy palates.

Anyway Snowdonia Ale (the beer for eagles) is a decent beer, it punches well above its light 3.6% ABV weight.

Purple Moose Brewery

I have tried a few beers from Purple Moose, so have already told the story of the breweries history. You can find this at the brewery page and on the other beers I have reviewed from Purple Moose.

So instead of writing about the brewery again, I will share the name Purple Moose. Now you don’t see many purple moose roaming around and I have never seen a moose at all in Snowdonia, let alone a purple one.

However, according to some old tales, there did use to be moose roaming the Snowdonia hills. But were they purple? Possibly sometimes in the summer months.

Back in 1387 there are tales of the moose that roam the hills being purple. The moose use to munch on heather flowers, which turned their coats a shade of purple.

And now we drink Purple Moose beer.

Purple Moose Beer

Purple moose have an array of beer to choose from. These include a solid core range of beers, as well as a craft range of beers too.

But not only that, they have a couple of gins too, and another spirit which is like a whiskey, but without being a whiskey. They called it a ‘hop Infused beer Spirit’ which was produced in collaboration with The Beer Barrel Distillery Company. It is available in 35cl and 70cl bottles and weighs in at 41% ABV.

Sounds interesting, anyway back to Purple Moose beers, I have tried three of their beers now, but I have plenty more to try. Here are a few that are on my beer hit list.

Calon Lan

Calon Lan is a best bitter for the core range, and I do love a best bitter. This one is brewed with crystal malt and roasted barley, and using hops from the US.

It is described as an amber coloured smooth beer with a full body and a fruity hoppy finish. Sounds pretty good to me, and at just 4.0% ABV it is another session beer to enjoy.

I like the sound of it and I love a pint of best bitter, so it has to make my beer hit list.

Navigator

Navigator is a Red IPA from the Purple Moose craft beer range. It is described as a beer that will send your taste buds on a journey, lets hope it’s a pleasant journey.

A sweet malty caramel toffee starts things off, with citrus and pine and a hop bitterness coming from the Columbus hops.

It sounds right up my beer street, but it does pack a punch, it is a beer to respect at 7.0% ABV. This is the strength on the websites write up. However the picture of the can on the website says 6.3% ABV, so I’m not sure which one it is.

That said, which ever one it is, it is strong, so just the one then.

Penmon

Penmon is a golden pale ale with some serious hops going on. Brewed with Junga, Marynka and Waimea hops get ready for a taste explosion.

Notes of liquorice, aniseed, blackcurrant, grapefruit and tangerine hitting with a big dose of citrus and pine might have the taste buds quivering.

Crisp ans zesty, but said to be perfectly balanced, sounds like a refreshing beer experience. I need to get my hands on this beer.

At just 4.3% ABV it is a session beer, so more than one is okay. That is if you can handle the carnival in the mouth.

Final Thoughts

Purple Moose Brewery have plenty of beers to choose from, and I will make my way through them over time. A decent core range as well as an exciting craft range, and now spirits too.

I have now tried three Purple Moose beers. Merry X-Moose the perfect winter warmer, Antlered IPA a beer I wasn’t keen on, and now Snowdonia Ale which hits all the right notes.

If you have tried the Snowdonia Ale, then do share you thoughts below. Let me know what your experience was, and of course give it your own score too.

Iechyd Da! Purple Moose.