Heather Ales Alba

	Percentile
	81
	overall

Brewed by Williams Brothers (Heather Ales)
Style: Traditional Ale
Alloa, Central, Scotland

bottled
common

on tap
unknown

Broad Distribution
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Ratings	Average	Score	ABV	Style Pctl	Serve in
622	3.39/5.0	3.38/5.0	7.5%	75.1	Dimpled mug, English pint, Stein, Yard

Commercial Description:
Bottled. A cask version at 6% is produced in March and April.
"Scots Pine Ale"
Introduced by the Vikings, spruce and pine ales were very popular in the Scottish Highlands until the end of the 19th century. Many early explorers, including Captain Cook, used spruce ale during long sea voyages since it prevented scurvy and ill health. Shetland spruce ale was said to "stimulate animal instincts" and give you twins. Alba is a triple style ale brewed to a traditional Highland recipe from Scots pine and spruce shoots pickled during early spring.Pure malted barley, is boiled with the young sprigs of pine for several hours then the fresh shoots of the spruce are added for a short infusion before fermentation.
A tawny brown strong ale with spruce aroma, rich malt texture, complex wood flavour and lingering finish.
Best drunk at room temperature from a wine goblet as an after dinner digestive.

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WeeHeavySD (2960), San Diego (Hillcrest), California, USA

3.3	Aroma	Appearance	Flavor	Palate	Overall
3.3	6/10	3/5	6/10	3/5	15/20

Jan 22, 2008

12oz bottle from Cyn and shared with her as well. Pours orange with a tan ring. Hoppy citrus nose. Taste is strangely sweet and piney. Its hard to describe, its pleasent though and the abv is pretty nicely hidden. Nice brew.

MrRain (426), O’Fallon, Illinois, USA

3.8	Aroma	Appearance	Flavor	Palate	Overall
3.8	8/10	4/5	7/10	4/5	15/20

Jan 21, 2008

I haven’t really been too impressed with Heather Ale Ltd. beers but his is one of their better ones. It’s interesting and tasty.

McGarnigle (307), Rochester, New York, USA

3.5	Aroma	Appearance	Flavor	Palate	Overall
3.5	7/10	4/5	7/10	4/5	13/20

Jan 19, 2008

Bottle best before 2009; drank close to room temperature. Pours clear dark red/orange/brown. Fruity aroma. Full-ish body with low carbonation. Almost syrupy. No hops? It’s mostly malty anyway. Sweet, fruity and slightly spicy. I can’t really taste the twigs. Good beer.

Acarotibia (57), Santiago de Compostela, Spain

3.5	Aroma	Appearance	Flavor	Palate	Overall
3.5	6/10	4/5	7/10	3/5	15/20

Jan 15, 2008

Sweet pine aroma. Soft red/orange colour with soft foam. Original bitter flavor with sweet fruits in palate. Strong beer with a strong sweet palate. Take care if you drink with meal (you can kill food taste).

mj (4993), Colorado, USA

3.1	Aroma	Appearance	Flavor	Palate	Overall
3.1	6/10	3/5	6/10	3/5	13/20

Jan 12, 2008

Cask at Bierra Paradiso. Clear dark rusty orange color. Moderately heavy honey and mapel malt nose, with just a faint bit of grassy, spicy, oily hops. Wet, low carbonation as expected, but a bit too oily and slick for my liking... makes me think of kelp with the slimy texture and slightly vegetal, twangy flavor. Earthy, peaty, spruce and pine spices along with some dull orange-flavored hops in the finish. Weird beer.

zebracakes (1214), Washington DC, USA

1.5	Aroma	Appearance	Flavor	Palate	Overall
1.5	4/10	3/5	3/10	1/5	4/20

Jan 11, 2008

Bottle. Pours hazy orange salmon, thin white head that disappears. Aroma is pine, oak, acetone, malt, anise, molasses, alcohol. Flavor is acetone, dried fruit, cotton candy, alcohol. The nail polish (acetone) aroma and flavor really kill it for me.

matt7215 (956), Cambridge, Ontario, Canada

3.3	Aroma	Appearance	Flavor	Palate	Overall
3.3	7/10	3/5	7/10	3/5	13/20

Jan 9, 2008

330 ml bottle from a historic ales of scotland giftpack. poured brown with almost no head and average carbonation. sweet pine and berry aromas with some maltiness. flavours are quite nice. interesting and complex although a bit to thin. enjoyable and something id have again.

LordCrabapple (83), Merseyside, England

4.5	Aroma	Appearance	Flavor	Palate	Overall
4.5	9/10	5/5	9/10	4/5	18/20

Jan 6, 2008

What a wonderful beer. A ’sipper’ (as the Americans say. What a terrible word!); very strong, a delight to taste, but hard to find in England without the American gift pack. I would certainly recommend this to all good fellows.

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