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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Rciesla (3580), Exit 15W, New Jersey, USA

3.8	Aroma	Appearance	Flavor	Palate	Overall
3.8	7/10	5/5	7/10	3/5	16/20

Feb 7, 2009

Bottle. Pours a tawny brown orange with a thin off white lacing. Spruce, pine, sap; fruity with notes of gum, caramel, and citrus. Flavor is very sweet with unrefined sugar and a candy sweetness. Passion fruit and citrus. Wow what an odd ball. Extra points for this being rather unique in my book.

lithy (1650), Knoxville, Tennessee, USA

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

Feb 2, 2009

Dated June 09. Dark cloudy brownish orange with a weak ring of off white head. Sweet caramel and a floral aroma. Taste is caramel, tropical fruits, light vanilla, honey, some pine and spruce in the finish where the hops should be.

AmazonMatt (284), Panama

3.4	Aroma	Appearance	Flavor	Palate	Overall
3.4	7/10	4/5	6/10	4/5	13/20

Jan 29, 2009

Rather malty, I was’t expecting that. More of a hybrid than some others in this category. Nice and easy drinking, hides the 7.5% alcohol well. Actually, didn’t taste much pine or spruce at all.

goozen (1061), Leiden, Netherlands

3.7	Aroma	Appearance	Flavor	Palate	Overall
3.7	5/10	4/5	7/10	4/5	17/20

Jan 17, 2009

Bottle 0,33ltr: Dark brown ale with an taste of an Nordic Pine forest, and hints of caramel.

carruthm (1122), Seattle, Washington, USA

4	Aroma	Appearance	Flavor	Palate	Overall
4	8/10	3/5	9/10	3/5	17/20

Jan 17, 2009

A: sprucey, piney, smooth caramel vanilla, V: clear orange, dark with little to no head. T: little sour sucker to it falling into a very pleasant spruce pine flavor.

michael-pollack (2644), King of Prussia, Pennsylvania, USA

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

Jan 16, 2009

330ml Bottle: Aroma of yeast, honey, slight chocolate, light caramel, and NO spruce. Poured orange/amber with a hint of brown in color and a tiny off-white head that disappeared immediately. Hazy. Not sparkling. Flavor is lightly sweet and lightly bitter. Tastes of caramel, malts, slight chocolate, slight wood, spruce, yeast, and caramel. Medium body. Syrupy, then dry texture. Soft to average carbonation. Sweet, caramel, light yeast finish is dry.

PaulHegedus (464), Georgetown, Ontario, Canada

3.3	Aroma	Appearance	Flavor	Palate	Overall
3.3	8/10	3/5	7/10	3/5	12/20

Jan 15, 2009

Bottle. This is amber red with little in the way of a head, poured in a snifter. It really smells wonderful, dominated by candy cane sugar, taffy, pine, watermelon candy, some faint hints of honey; the pine is not dominant in the least. It has a very sweet flavour, less interesting than the aromas. I taste something like caramel apple and then some very herbal elements, pine leading to light raisin and nut.

stevebail (17), Guelph, Ontario, Canada

3.2	Aroma	Appearance	Flavor	Palate	Overall
3.2	5/10	3/5	7/10	3/5	14/20

Jan 12, 2009

330ml bottle from Scottish Traditional Ales gift pack. Sweeter aroma than I generally like, but I was pleasantly surprised by the flavour

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