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Score
8784
OVERALLStyle
Brewed by Williams Brothers (Heather Ales)
Style: Traditional Ale
Alloa, Scotland

bottled
common

on tap
available

Broad Distribution

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RATINGS: 760   WEIGHTED AVG: 3.37   EST. CALORIES: 225   ABV: 7.5%
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.


3
   AROMA 7/10   APPEARANCE 3/5   TASTE 6/10   PALATE 3/5   OVERALL 11/20
KnutAlbert (4386) - Oslo, NORWAY - AUG 29, 2007
Bottled. You can feel some resin in this rather sweet ale, but, frankly, this would have been more piney with the right use of hops. Interesting as an experiment.

4.2
   AROMA 9/10   APPEARANCE 5/5   TASTE 8/10   PALATE 4/5   OVERALL 16/20
mouse725 (83) - Albany, New York, USA - AUG 26, 2007
Going into this beer, I anticipated a brew much like the sap of a Christmas tree...how pleasantly surprised I was! This beer poured a hair darker that amber, swelled sweet-ish, and had a BIG flavour that hit every tastebud on the tongue. Definitely would drink it again.

3.5
   AROMA 7/10   APPEARANCE 3/5   TASTE 7/10   PALATE 3/5   OVERALL 15/20
Beershine (4561) - The Sunshine State, Florida, USA - AUG 20, 2007
Tempting dark amber hue but poured with hardly any head. Sweet, fruity smell something like apple candy. Resin flavors, reflective of the pine and spruce used in the brewing process. The mouthfeel is somewhat numbing, especially towards the middle and back. Odd but not unpelasant. Tingly but almost flat at the same time. A gentle beer. Unique woodsy character and a rich but not complex body.

3.6
   AROMA 7/10   APPEARANCE 3/5   TASTE 7/10   PALATE 3/5   OVERALL 16/20
nearbeer (2572) - Knoxville, Tennessee, USA - AUG 13, 2007
330 ml, bbe Oct 08. Copper and clear with a small but persistent head. Aroma is sweet and spicy molasses, ale yeast, marshmallows, and maybe a hint of evergreen resin. Flavor is spicy molasses, marshmallow, and some Fuggles seem to be in there as well. Finish is where the evergreen shows up, and reminds me of the stimulating stuff they used to brush through your hair after a barbershop haircut. Once my buds get used to the flavor, I really like it. Palate is light-medium and watery, slightly dry. Basically a decent Scottish ale with an evergreen flourish at the end. And although the spruce finish can become a bit much ( I cudna drink more than twa), I like the beer.

3.5
   AROMA 6/10   APPEARANCE 4/5   TASTE 7/10   PALATE 4/5   OVERALL 14/20
Jayb0 (828) - Cherry Hill, New Jersey, USA - AUG 9, 2007
Quite nice and delivering nearly exactly the description provided by the brewer. Smooth and malty with an up front woodiness that borders on fruity, but seemingly mellows as you work you way through this beer. Very good at nearly room temperature.

3.4
   AROMA 6/10   APPEARANCE 4/5   TASTE 7/10   PALATE 3/5   OVERALL 14/20
shrubber85 (4843) - Greenville, Indiana, USA - AUG 3, 2007
Bottle. Sour milk, molasses aroma with a hint of pine. Cloudyl brown color with a thin film of head. Spicy pine and brown sugar malt flavor. Smooth tasting with a piney aftertaste. A nice beer experience.

3.7
   AROMA 8/10   APPEARANCE 3/5   TASTE 7/10   PALATE 4/5   OVERALL 15/20
MesandSim (7108) - London, Greater London, ENGLAND - JUL 29, 2007
A Mes rate: 33cl bottle from Odd Bins. Very attractive dark amber colour with a slight off white film. LOVE the smell. Pine and spruce fall out of the top of the glass but underneath there is lots of complexity. Estery, plenty of berries, sugar, malt, yeast, some bready notes and just a lick of vanillary alcohol. Ooh pithy cherries too. Lovely aroma. Flavour is not quite so complex but still pretty good. Spruce and pine is not usually my thing but it works really well here. The berries come at you thick and fast and pretty much any stemmed fruit I can think of seems to be in there. Alcohol is hidden really well until the finish but it comes in nice and soft and just adds a really pleasant warmth on the way down. There is just a very slight acrid sticky feel at the back of the palate that lets it down a little for me. Maybe it is just a touch too sweet but I like a lot of what these guys make and this one is very close to excellent.

1.9
   AROMA 5/10   APPEARANCE 2/5   TASTE 3/10   PALATE 2/5   OVERALL 7/20
mabel (4129) - Toronto, Ontario, CANADA - JUL 29, 2007
[416-20070709] 330mL (By Dec-07). Sickly heavy forest resin base aroma with weird chocolate notes and light sickly licorice. Clear, dark brown amber body with a quick off-white bubbly head. Floral malt flavour with heavy grain. Medium-full body. Unpleasant, mildly offensive.


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Rating Notecard:
Beer: Heather Ales Alba Rating Avg: 3.37 No. of Ratings: 760
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