RateBeer
   Home Sign Up or Login Advanced Search
   People Ratings Events Places Forums Shop Magazine
      Top By Category  RateBeer Best  Latest Ratings  Top 50    

Heather Ales Alba

Heather Ales Alba  - Traditional Ale

* picture credits
copyright may apply

 Percentile 
81
overall
Brewed by Williams Brothers (Heather Ales)
Style: Traditional Ale

Alloa, Central, Scotland

bottled
common

on tap
unknown

Broad Distribution
Find this beer

Add Distribution Data
send corrections | shelftag |

 Ratings  Average  Score  ABV  Style Pctl  Serve in 
6183.38/5.03.38/5.07.5%75.4Dimpled mug, English pint, Stein, Yard
View Statistics  P 

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.
 Most Recent Top Raters Highest Ratings Who's Rated This?  
 DuffMan (2721), the land of bitumen, beef & beer, Alberta, Canada
4.1 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
9/103/58/104/517/20
Mar 6, 2006  
Deep orange, crazy aromas of clover, blood oranges, and tootsie-roll toffee (no pine though!). Rich full bodied palate, chewy caramel malt with a woody and floral character. Nothing about this says it was associated with pine/spruce in any way, but it is excellent and unique regardless. Worth trying.


 gilvanblight (390), Windsor, Ontario, Canada
4.3 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
9/104/58/105/517/20
Mar 5, 2006  
Brown red pour with little head. Strong woody (pine I assume) scent with some sweet caramel. Low carbonation. Deep malty taste, blackberry and spice. The finish shines with flavour. Way better then I expected and the best of the "great ales of sctoland’ gift pack. Wish I knew how to get this on it’s own.


 kook (2034), Perth, Western Australia, Australia
2.3 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
4/103/54/103/59/20
Mar 1, 2006  
Bottle: Very sweet berries in the nose. Reddy amber in colour. White head. Fruity, malty and a little cloying.


 trokini (1027), San Diego, California, USA
1.9 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
7/103/52/102/55/20
Feb 27, 2006  
Painfully awful. This beer smells and looks great. Darker amber with a moderate tan head. Aroma is very nice; piney and clean. But the taste is ass in your mouth bad. Its as if someone put a tree in a blender and hit "Liquify". Avoid.


 Thaichile (599), 10aFly, New Jersey, USA
3.4 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
6/103/57/104/514/20
Feb 26, 2006  
Bottle. Pours a deeper copper with almost no head. Scents of sweet malt. Piney and resiny, sort of a very mellowed hop flavor. Somewhat sweet, but certainly not cloying. It was very smooth with a dry finish. I enjoyed this one. A gift from Beervana.


BrideOfFrankenkitty (44), Illinois, USA
3.9 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
8/104/56/104/517/20
Feb 20, 2006  
I think I must have had PMS, because I got almost entirely chocolate from this beer. The aroma was Chocolate Truffles, the flavor was somewhere between cocoa and a chocolate soda. It was a light brown, like cloudy tea and the finish was metallic. I enjoyed all the chocolate, but no one else seems to have noticed it.


 frankenkitty (1900), Oak Lawn, Illinois, USA
2.8 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
5/102/56/103/512/20
Feb 20, 2006  
Pours copper and incredibly dense with particulate with no real head. Aromas start sour and vegetal with light roast. The scent that was predominant to me was that of raspberry syrup. Light pine shows through, but not hoppy like we’d see in a good IPA. Texture was thinly syrupy with a fruity, malted flavor... the raspberry again making an appearance. I don’t think this came off as they planned, but it was still pretty good.

<font size=-4>Purchased from <a href=http://www.ratebeer.com/Place/illinois/chicago/sam’s-wine-&-spirits/18.htm>Sam’s Wine & Spirits, Chicago, IL 60614<font size=-1>


 luckygirl (1221), Boulder, Colorado, USA
3.7 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
7/104/57/105/514/20
Feb 17, 2006  
Beer pours a clear, dark, caramel-brown color with an average, frothy, tan, mostly and quickly diminishing head. The aroma is winning. Sweet with juicy notes of stone fruits, sherry, winter spices, vanilla and a trace of black tea. The flavor is moderately sweet, moderately bitter, with an average-length, lightly sweet, lightly acidic finish. The palate is nice: the body is medium-to-full, the texture is pure velvet, the carbonation is average and there’s a faint alcoholic feeling in the finish. I would seek this beer out again, for sure.



CONSIDER FREE RATEBEER MEMBERSHIP



Join us! RateBeer is made by beer enthusiasts for the craft beer community. Your basic membership is free and allows you to read all beer ratings. Click here to create your account... and give your opinion!

SIGN UP NOW »

View Page 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62

What's Your Opinion?
Tell us what you think of this beer. Start your free RateBeer account now.
» Click here.

More Traditional Ales

Hair of the Dog Matt (4.17)

Hair of the Dog Adam (4.12)

Hair of the Dog Cherry Adam from the Wood (3.97)

Traquair Jacobite Ale (3.91)

Hair of the Dog Adam from the Wood (3.88)

Thornbridge Bracia (3.8)

Haandbryggeriet Norwegian Wood (3.65)

Beer Here Påske (3.64)

Triumph Gose (3.63)

Bøgedal Nr. 0043 fad (3.63)

Hollolan Hirvi Kivisahti (3.59)

Cambridge LAmour du Jour (2007 - ) (3.57)

Bøgedal Nr. 0100 (3.57)

Bøgedal Nr. 0110 (3.56)

Bøgedal Nr. 0073 (3.56)


About RateBeer | Add A Beer | Add A Brewer | Edit Personal Info | 100 Beer Club | FAQ | Log out | Feedback? | Copyright 2000-2009, RateBeer LLC