Heather Ales Ebulum

12 oz bottle, D’s 6-pack Pittsburgh. Pours a flat black colored body with some chestnut on the edges under a foamy one finger beige head. Nice retention and lots of lacing. The aroma is just delicious. Roast, coffee, and lots of elderberries, which pretty much smell like blueberries to me. Light chalkiness, dark chocolate, and light alcohol notes. The flavor is quite fruity with a juicy elderberry presence. There’s a roasty, almost stout-like base, but this is really a fruit beer at heart. Mouthfeel is slick and silky with moderate fine fizzy carbonation. Nice medium body. A very interesting beer. Actually my second elderberry beer this week, and I must say this one had a much more aggressive fruitiness. Nice stuff.

Pours brown with a light brown head that dissipates to a thin ring of bubbles pretty quickly. Amells of elderberries, chocolate, peppery and nuts. Tastes of elderberries, sweet malt, some spice and a peppery lasting finish. Mouthfeel is velvety on this one. This brewer really does a good job with their offbeat brews.

my favorite heather ale, it is pitch black with brown head. caramel aroma, it has nutty flavor and is well balanced.

Bottle (from Bitter Virtue, BB Oct 06 or Dec 07 - the bottle marked both!) Dark colour. Lightly roasted on the whole with hints of ashy coffee round the edges. Distinct sweet juicy elderberry in the middle which leaves a thinness behind. In an elderberry beer I made it left a similar unsatisfying thiness not at all like the decent body elderberry wines seem to have.

Motor oil black, no.....wait.....I’m in Japan, make that "Squid ink" black. Has a creamy beige head. Roasty, fruity, peat, earthy scent. What is this I taste? Peatmoss, celery, a bit of spice, smoky. Another Scottish beer I really want to love, but I just can’t. The flavor reminds me too much of celery, and I hate celery.

Pours a deep plum/black with a smooth, soft fruity aroma. From the label, I was expecting something thin, and sweet. While it’s definitely sweet, it is well balanced and not that sicky sweet feel. Nice full body, slight warming sensation from the alcohol. The taste is unique. Spices definitely stand out, with some vanilla as well. And there is a noticeable taste like red wine at the beginning of each sip, which fades into the spicyness, and then returns in the finish. Almost no carbonation. Really a nice beer. Glad I took a chance on it.

Poured black with a small head. All the elements of a good stout( dark chocolate, coffee, roasted malts) that laced nicely with a mild taste of berries. Nice, I like!

Thick dark brown head that dissipated quite quickly. Dark black in colour. Sweet and slightly minty (?) smell. Smooth mouth-feel, pretty inoffensive in taste, slightly smoky/coffee aftertaste.