Heather Ales Alba

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

Pours deep brown. Very earthy spruce aroma. With a subtle sweet caramel smell. Mlaty to start with a very strong spruce flavour the finish is very sweet and sappy, A a little alcoholic. One of the most inique beers I have evr had. I like it.

11.2 oz bottle. Pours a light brown color with a small white quickly vanishing head. Smells of malt, berries and a touch of pine. Tastes of pine and a bit of resin with a little bit of a burnt and roasted taste with maybe a little toast, toffee, date and cola. This was well worth the price in my opinion. I enjoyed this one immensely. .

11.2oz bottle. Pours a crystal clear, amber-bronze body with a thin, off-white, fizzy head that dissipates quickly and leaves a light lacing. Aroma is sweet blackberries and strawberries with just a hint of spruce trees in the background. A light, spiced caramel malt in there too, but mainly sweet and fruity berries. Flavor is sweet with a honey malt quality up front and a light caramel. A slightly grassy spice, molasses candy, brown malt chocolate flavor comes in during the middle before a more subdued berry presents itself. Finishes with a slightly dry woody spruce, but mostly rich malts and a nice fruity character. Medium bodied and exceptionally smooth and easy with a medium length aftertaste of rich malts, berry fruits, a pinch of grass, and honey-chocolate-brown malts. Overall, a very unique, one-of-a-kind beer. Nice balance between the rich, sweet malts and light grassy taste. Plenty of fruit and a tasty malt background. I really liked the flavor on this. Not very bold, but well balanced with a nice body and a relatively complex flavor. Absolutely no hint of the 7.5% ABV either. Solid beer.

Bottle. Just the smallest hint of pine on the nose. Mostly sweet malt. pours a rich, viscous copper brown with some decent sticky lacing. Definitely a some pine on the palate, but not overwhelming at all. Slightly herbal and woody with sweet caramel notes throughout. Decent carbonation with a fairly rich sticky body.

Bottle pours amber with a small white head. Aroma is sweet malt, pine,floral. Flavor is light malt and honey with lots of pine (Think of chewing pine needles)

Anyone expecting the clean piney flavours of some modern APAs can think again. This traditional ale brewed with Scots pine and spruce sprigs is a sweet, herbal concoction. It’s not entirely convincing to this palate but the brewer should be commended for resurrecting the style. Alba is a hazy caramel-brown with a thin film of suds. Sweet, sticky aroma with ginger notes, a medicinal tint and boiled lollies. No obvious pine or herbal notes - smelled more like Irn Bru than a pine forest. Syrupy mouthfeel with minimal carbonation. Medicinal flavours - cough lollies, clove, paint, raisins, honey, with a late draft of pine in the swallow. Geez, I though Captain Cook’s crew had it tough enough but two years of this would drive me close to mutiny. A little goes a long way. I much prefer the gooseberry and heather ales. Ultimately, this was pretty hard to drink. I like the concept a lot more than the reality. (330ml bottle from Platinum Liquor. BB June 2009)

Enjoyed from an 11.2oz bottle in a pub glass. The beer pours a nice medium amber color with a small white head. Aromas of malt and some citrus come through in the nose. Perhaps a touch of pine, but it might be more my mind searching for it than actual perception. The palate is malty and full across the palate, almost resembling a slightly lighter-bodied Scotch ale. Again, a bit of citus comes through, although it is nicely refined. The finish is slightly sweet, but on par with the rest of the beer. Overall, a nice change of pace from modern beer styles and interpretations thereof.

Smells of raisins, maraschino cherries, and grass. Opaque ochre. thin tan head. Maraschino cherries and only the lightest malt flavor. Creamy mouthfeel, but alcohol content seems magnified. Unique, but only tates ok.