Heather Ales Fraoch (Bottle)

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

Pours a cloudy orange gold color, with a smallish, bubbly white head. Smells of some mild orange peel, very subtle spice, caramel malt, and hints of clove. The clove and mintiness of it really came out in the flavor as well as other spices. the orange citrus definitely played a role as the caramel malt seemed to take a backseat here. Drank very nicely and was interesting for a simpler beer. i enjoyed it.

First, I will admit this bottle is a touch old but here goes. Poured a cloudy golden amber with a nice white head and decent carbonation. Nose was nice. Floral and earthy with a big malty sweetness in the background. All malty and sweet on the palate with a little vegetal herbalness in the back. Decent and I would probably like a fresh one even better.

Bottle at Novare Res. Pours a golden amber color with a white head. Big sweet malt aromas with hints of floral notes. Flavor is very nice, sweet, slightly boozy, a hint of herbs and spices. Finish attenuates perfectly, sweet and dry. Sticky on the tongue but not over-extending. Looking at the reviews below calling for more hops, I’d wonder where scotch ales are known for their hop profile, especially ones that use heather also. I thought this was a perfect example of a style i’m generally not a fan of.

Golden orange pour with a white head. Yeasty aroma with citrus and pale malts. Fruity flavor with a sweet finish. Doesn’t have any hop flavor with only very slight bitterness. Definitely has an old feel to it.

Pours a nice golden amber with a fairly creamy white head. Slight floral/fruity aroma. Flavor is floral with a hint of citrus. Finish is pretty dry and very clean. A slight hop bitterness on the finish or heavier malt would benefit this ale nicely. Good lacing.

330ml Bottle shared with French Tickler. Clear golden apperance with a bubbely white head. Aroma: orange, chocolate and honey. Flavor: orange, watery and light pepper taste. Palate: light body and soft carbonation with an oily finish.

this is one of those beers that i’ve been looking for for ages, not even because i really thought i would like it, but because i wanted to have tasted it (in case someone brings it up in conversation and i don’t have an opinion prepared). and now i have. my opinion? hops in beer is an instance of progress being a good thing. honey, peppermint and pleasant maltiness, slight gingery or peppermint hotness, but empty in the finish where the hops should go.

A- Cloudy, dark orange/honey hue, head is small, off-white, and bubbly that is mostly sustained, very thin lacing S- Nose is dominated by floral tones (including heather of course), sweet spicecake, herbs, subtle malts, other slight fruits/berries, hints of peppermint/candy cane T- Initial taste is sweet herbs and flowers along with wheat and grain, opens up to allspice, earthy tones, and tea leaves, finishes sweet and dry M- Light/medium bodied, watery texture, tickly carbonation D- This is definitely a unique beer, I have never have a ’Scottish Gruit’ before (even though I was born in Scotland), it is almost like a cross between wheat wine/winter warmer/fruit beer, but the floral spices are overly potpourri-ish which is tough to handle in large amounts (one bottle was enough for me), very original and quite balanced, the taste is a little too out there for a repeat performance