Heather Ales Alba 3.38 634

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
634	3.38/5.0	3.38/5.0	7.5%	75	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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TChrome (1303), Bedford, Texas, USA

3.8	Aroma	Appearance	Flavor	Palate	Overall
3.8	7/10	4/5	8/10	4/5	15/20

Nov 6, 2005

Beer pours a nice copper color with a totally retained, creamy off white head. Aroma is nicely malty with whiffs of spruce and pine. Flavor is sweet and very vinous. Also some wood spiciness. A very interesting and enjoyable ale.

Oakes (8172), Beyond the Great Firewall, China

3.8	Aroma	Appearance	Flavor	Palate	Overall
3.8	9/10	3/5	7/10	4/5	15/20

Nov 21, 2000

The most robust and earthy of this series of specialty ales from Scotland. Delicious, complex, highly adventurous. Whether you get into it or not, this is a must try.

Zach Diesel (907), Portland, Oregon, USA

3.8	Aroma	Appearance	Flavor	Palate	Overall
3.8	8/10	4/5	7/10	4/5	15/20

Jun 10, 2001

Bodacious!

daboskabouter (1470), Fergus, Ontario, Canada

3.8	Aroma	Appearance	Flavor	Palate	Overall
3.8	7/10	3/5	7/10	4/5	17/20

Aug 17, 2001

I was expecting a lot more of a pine and spruce flavor. Very modest I found. Beautiful color, but where was the head? Great smell of fresh berries, but not pine and not spruce. Couldn’t even taste the alcohol content.

MrRain00 (37), Columbus, Indiana, USA

3.8	Aroma	Appearance	Flavor	Palate	Overall
3.8	8/10	4/5	7/10	4/5	15/20

Dec 23, 2001

I haven’t really been too impressed with Heather Ale Ltd. beers but his is one of their better ones. It’s interesting and tasty.

RobBestwick (555), Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England

3.8	Aroma	Appearance	Flavor	Palate	Overall
3.8	8/10	3/5	8/10	3/5	16/20

Sep 3, 2003

rich fruity aroma, pours with a dark brown hue and small head, full bodied with a very fruity flavour, pineapples, kiwi fruit??, creamy texture, long finish.

MrRain (439), O’Fallon, Illinois, USA

3.8	Aroma	Appearance	Flavor	Palate	Overall
3.8	8/10	4/5	7/10	4/5	15/20

Jan 21, 2008

I haven’t really been too impressed with Heather Ale Ltd. beers but his is one of their better ones. It’s interesting and tasty.

wilkie (1193), Raleigh, North Carolina, USA

3.8	Aroma	Appearance	Flavor	Palate	Overall
3.8	6/10	3/5	8/10	4/5	17/20

Dec 19, 2005

Bottle. Brown-red, with a medium off-white head. Aroma is herbal, and slightly malty. Flavor is very pine, and reminds me of cranberry? Spicy pine flavors are prevalent all through the beer. Delicious in a very different way. I really like it.

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