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
Find this beer

send corrections | shelftag

Ratings	Average	Score	ABV	Style Pctl	Serve in
627	3.38/5.0	3.38/5.0	7.5%	75.2	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.

Please Enable Javascript

This site requires javascript enabled and/or approval of googlesyndication.com.

Most Recent

Top Raters

Highest Ratings

Who's Rated This?

mullet2007 (206), St. Johns, Newfoundland, Canada

2.8	Aroma	Appearance	Flavor	Palate	Overall
2.8	4/10	2/5	5/10	4/5	13/20

Nov 28, 2008

Pours a cloudy orange colour with a tiny white head. Nose is a little bit piney, maybe a bit due to the pine and maybe a bit of piney hops? There’s really not much in the flavour in the way of hops. It’s nice and malty, lots of toffee. Very smooth. Finish is a little reminiscent of gin, and has a bit of alcohol showing through there as well. Mouthfeel is very thick and creamy. Not much carbonation, but that’s good in this case.

terrybail (338), London, Ontario, Canada

3.3	Aroma	Appearance	Flavor	Palate	Overall
3.3	6/10	3/5	7/10	3/5	14/20

Nov 15, 2008

330ml bottle from the LCBO as part of the Historic Ales Of Scotland Sampler Pack Nice fruity sweet aroma raisins Pours a reddish amber with very little head or lacing The taste is not what I was expecting I guess I was expecting something like Pinesol This is actually pretty good. Sweet malty caramel the alcohol does show through a bit but not too overpowering I guess if it is good enough for Vikings it is good enough for me

unclemike (834), Ft. Riley, Kansas, USA

3.4	Aroma	Appearance	Flavor	Palate	Overall
3.4	6/10	4/5	6/10	4/5	14/20

Oct 27, 2008

Thanks to daknole Bottle. Pours copper/brown with a thin off-white head. Wow, the aroma is a total malt-festival. Caramel, toast, toffee, and milk chocolate all are very prevalent. Flavor is sugar sweet caramel with maple syrup, some dark fruit, and a mild pine finish.

daniele (1712), Italy

3.4	Aroma	Appearance	Flavor	Palate	Overall
3.4	7/10	3/5	6/10	3/5	15/20

Oct 25, 2008

ambrata schiuma non molto abbandante discreta persitenza note maltate erbacce pino in bocca maltata corpo medio finale speziato

weaselkenievil (738), Cheshire, England

3.5	Aroma	Appearance	Flavor	Palate	Overall
3.5	7/10	3/5	8/10	3/5	14/20

Oct 11, 2008

Bottle. Poured a dark amber with a slight reddish tint. Smells very malty. Really tasty, malty, generous helping of fruit cake, little caramel topping on that there cake. Very nice, enjoyed this.

daknole (2959), Plantation, Florida, USA

3.6	Aroma	Appearance	Flavor	Palate	Overall
3.6	7/10	4/5	7/10	4/5	14/20

Oct 10, 2008

Bottle from whole foods. Amber pour wtih a light tan head. Aroma is very malty and heavy. Some caramel notes are present and some honey as well. Flavor is pretty full and malty. Caramel, toffee, and a hit of hops balances well. I liked this one pretty well.

Beerman6686 (1287), Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA

3.1	Aroma	Appearance	Flavor	Palate	Overall
3.1	6/10	3/5	7/10	3/5	12/20

Sep 27, 2008

Poured a dark amber color with an off white head. Aroma was sweet malts and pine. Flavor was a little subdued on the pine, really smooth maltiness and some caramel. Not bad at all.

gabrielsyme (66), Ohio, USA

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

Sep 21, 2008

Pours tan-brown, little head. heavy taste of caramel and some chocolate, alcohol is well hidden for 7.5%. "Delicious Even when past expiration date."

CONSIDER FREE RATEBEER MEMBERSHIP

Join us! RateBeer is made by beer enthusiasts for the craft beer community. Your basic membership is free and allows you to read all beer ratings. Click here to create your account... and give your opinion!

SIGN UP NOW »

View Page 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63

More Traditional Ales By Style
Bøgedal Nr. 0047 61
Bayerischer Bahnhof Original Leipziger Gose 68
Hair of the Dog Cherry Adam from the Wood 99
Bøgedal Nr. 0134 81
Bøgedal Nr. 0124 83
Bøgedal Nr. 0086 62
Bøgedal Nr. 0031 61
East End Kvass 87
Samuel Adams Koggen 61
Bøgedal Nr. 0102 fad 66
Bøgedal Nr. 0041 65
Cambridge The Wind Cried Mari 94
Bøgedal Nr. 0114 76
Bøgedal Nr. 0073 94
Goedecke Döllnitzer Ritterguts Gose 88

please support all of this page