Heather Ales Alba

Smokey winey and piney, this ale is a wonderful look at what beer was like back in the day (Okay, at least at a nostaglic sense). This beer pours like wine is oily and complexed. The strong malt sweetness makes perfect love to the pine and spruce flavoring. Hopheads be warned this is not your thing! But if you enjoy original, and unique beers try this one out! I also recommand all the beers from Heather Ales.

Bottle (330ml). Poured a very murky, lively amber-brown with an average very light tan tightly bubbled head. Quite a few medium and large light-coloured floaties. Aroma of sour wine, cider, yeasty moderately roasted malt, some evergreen mulch & resiny pine cones - overall quite tart. Taste is a tangy battle between fairly thick sweet roasted malts and slightly sour pine and spruce resins, with a little bit of hop tossed in to even out the finish, although that might be the pine outlasting the malt. Mouthfeel is quite thick and astringent from the "tree" components. This bottle may be a bit past its prime, but it held up well, despite the yeasties.

Dark maroon with some smallish creamy head. Lots of honey sweetness in the aroma, combined with some plantiness? Some spruce combined with some nice honey sweetness that finishes rather dry. Pretty woody aftertaste. Medium bodied. A solid and interesting brew.

Hazy rust-amber body. Piney aroma with grape juice and hints of orange peel. Strong flavor of woody malt, soft spine, and spearmint gum. Miney, grapey finish with a woody dryness. An interesting fruity, dry beer. Try it!

Pours a thin amber with a nice head. Aroma is sweet malt and sugar. Palate is surprisingly coating for such a thin-appearance. Flavor is a weird sour cotton-candy and pine/spruce sap blend. Interesting, but one will suffice.

Decent beer, but not what I expected, I don’t think I would want more that a sixer of this one. A very much fruity butterscotch taste, I think. I can’t begin to explain the taste.

Brown. Disappearing, creamy, off-white head. Love those chunks. Malt, pine, alcohol, and yeast aroma. Same taste with less alcohol and a touch of wood. Full body, smooth texture, lingering finish. Easy to drink yet complex. Unique brew, very good.

Dark amber bordering on brown. Fully receding off-white head. Sweet aroma of blackberry, spruce, and butterscotch. Low carbonation, subdued maltiness, but lots of esters. Really fruity, not as much pine/spruce as expected. Aroma just seemed strange. Complex and interesting, but not great.