Heather Ales Ebulum

Brewed by Williams Brothers (Heather Ales)
Style: Traditional Ale
Alloa, Central, Scotland

black body, thick foamy tall dark tan head, a little red-clayish colored. roasted malt aroma, baking chocolate, and some dark berries in the background. light carbonation, body is a bit thin. flavor is roasted malt, a bit of baking chocolate that goes light like cocoa powder, then a drier and grassier finish. actually it is more like a dry red wine. not astringent but definately some tannin in the aftertaste. interesting and original.

The elderberries gave this a sour finish. Pronounced smoky, toasty, roasted flavor. Tannin like taste of red wine.

330 ml bottle from Plaza Liquor - Pours a dark brown color with a one finger thick tan head. Light lacing. Has a sweet toasted malt aroma with some light underlying esters. Flavor is light roasted malt. Palate is a little dry. Light to medium body. A pretty good beer.

(Bottle) Pours a dark brown color with little head. Aroma of roasted malts. Taste is similar, with some of the flavors more burnt than roasted. Only a slight hint of any berry in this one; otherwise very roasty, with caramels, cocoa, and smoke. Nice creamy mouthfeel, with a full body and average carbonation. An interesting, enjoyable beer.

Deep brown with a miniscule head. Bit of a cardamon nose. Thin on the tongue with subtle coriander and molasses. Very muted fruit. A rich porter with some smokiness. Velvety on the palate.

This was excellent and a real nice surprise. I expectd the offbeat ingredients to deliver an interesting, perhaps unusual beer. But this is simply a great beer. Deep beet purple/black with nice frothy head to start. Creamy, smooth, fairly faint berry mixed with chocolate and roasted sweetness.

Best by Date December 2007, Sampled June 2007
Pours with a deeply, purple stained, almost black color and is topped by a frothy, lightly browned, tan colored head that starts out at two-fingers in height. The aroma is fairly light, but does have a soft, berry-like fruitiness that reminds me of grape soda. There is also a touch of toasted malt, but that is all I can really pull out of the aroma right now.

Sweet up front, yet not in anyway sticky. It does have a sort of diluted, grape soda like flavor to it. It has a light carbonation and despite this, a slightly creamy texture to a beer that is fairly light bodied. The finish has a lightly astringent, almost bitter, roast malt edge to it. Soft berry like notes are the most prominent flavors here, but they are certainly not strong, or in any way overwhelming. The finish has a thin, vaguely red wine like character to it that is perhaps a mix of soft tannic notes and the berry flavors.

The flavors in this beer are fairly one dimensional some how. The berry note is nice, but is too dominant; the beer is also a bit too thin and the roast character only adds some acidity and astringency in the finish. If the base beer was more flavorful I think this would actually work. As it is, this beer is a touch boring, though certainly not undrinkable.

Bottle at Bier Garden Portsmouth VA. Ink black, no head just a small tan ring around the rim faint berry aroma with notes of spice. Thick palate, heavy feel, like thick coffee with subtle berry notes and a gentle warmth.