Heather Ales Alba 3.38 632

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
632	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.

Please Enable Javascript

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

Most Recent

Top Raters

Highest Ratings

Who's Rated This?

jake65 (1725), Williston, North Dakota, USA

3.7	Aroma	Appearance	Flavor	Palate	Overall
3.7	7/10	4/5	8/10	4/5	14/20

Sep 15, 2006

Bottle: pours a murky brown and amber color with a small head. Aroma is malty with pine notes. Taste is a well rounded blend of pine, malt, raison, fruitiness, and even a bit nutty. Finishes with that nice little pine note. Well done pine flavor without an overwhelming sense of chewing on a pine needle!

oh6gdx (9105), Vasa, Finland

3.4	Aroma	Appearance	Flavor	Palate	Overall
3.4	7/10	3/5	7/10	3/5	14/20

Sep 12, 2006

Bottled. Clear amber colour, mediumsized beige head. Aroma is caramellish malts, hops and some fruity notes. Flavour is sweet caramel and fruit along with spices. Long spicy and fruity aftertaste.

Arnie (272), Chicagoland, IL, Illinois, USA

3.4	Aroma	Appearance	Flavor	Palate	Overall
3.4	7/10	3/5	7/10	3/5	14/20

Sep 10, 2006

Bottled. Interesting. MIld on the hops and malts, but a clearly noticable nose of pine. Not so much pine on the finish, though, but the hops come through. Pale-aley style flavor. Crisp flavor, not very strong.

TBone (6867), Pori, Finland

3.5	Aroma	Appearance	Flavor	Palate	Overall
3.5	7/10	4/5	7/10	3/5	14/20

Sep 10, 2006

Bottled (BB 10/2007). Copper brown color, creamy tan head. Toffeish, slightly alcoholic, toasted brown sugar in the aroma. Toffeish, slightly alcoholic - very Scotch Ale -like. Some herbal-hoppy notes. Not pine found here, but quite nice ale to sip.

Aggie80 (709), Michigan, USA

3.7	Aroma	Appearance	Flavor	Palate	Overall
3.7	7/10	3/5	7/10	4/5	16/20

Sep 9, 2006

Cool stuff! Nice pour with some head. Aroma had a bit of a pine scent to it and the pine aftertaste was a nice subtle undertone. Not much of a kick dispite the higher alcohol content. I liked it and would buy it again when I see it.

tennisjoel (951), Shakopee, Minnesota, USA

1.9	Aroma	Appearance	Flavor	Palate	Overall
1.9	6/10	4/5	3/10	1/5	5/20

Sep 8, 2006 Updated: Sep 21, 2006

I can smell the pine aspect of this beer. Also has a fruity apple and ginger scent. Cloudy and copper in color. Sweet in flavor, and this would fit the cloying description. Yep...I will go ahead and say it, "I didn’t care for this beer"...there. Slightly improved as it warmed. But I won’t be purchasing this again anytime soon.

RCL (1496), Waltham, Massachusetts, USA

2.8	Aroma	Appearance	Flavor	Palate	Overall
2.8	6/10	4/5	4/10	3/5	11/20

Sep 3, 2006

It’s not a bad beer, but the pine addition doesn’t do much for me. If you are really desperate for something new, then give this one a whirl, otherwise, look elsewhere.

DocLock (4648), Lower Pottsgrove, Pennsylvania, USA

4.1	Aroma	Appearance	Flavor	Palate	Overall
4.1	8/10	4/5	8/10	4/5	17/20

Aug 29, 2006

Bottle from Super Saver. Deep coppery ruby pour with 1-finger off-white head. Nice appearance for this one. Smells caramel malty, piney and hoppy, with some fruit and brown sugar hints. Tastes caramel malty at first, then becomes more heavy in the piney, sprucey hop arena as it warms, with even a nut browny almond and brown sugar flavor. Nicely balanced, unique, and complex.

We Want To Hear From You

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!

Join Us »

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 64

Share Your Opinion!

More Traditional Ales By Style
Cambridge The Wind Cried Mari 94
Bøgedal Nr. 0031 61
Bayerischer Bahnhof Original Leipziger Gose 68
Bøgedal Nr. 0041 65
Dogfish Head Sahtea 93
Bøgedal Nr. 0146 71
Bøgedal Nr. 0070 85
Bøgedal Nr. 0100 90
Bøgedal Nr. 0116 79
Bøgedal Nr. 0134 80
Bøgedal Nr. 0137 64
Bøgedal Nr. 0038 70
Dogfish Head Chateau Jiahu 74
Heather Ales Alba 75
Dupont Cervesia 85

please support all of this page