Heather Ales Ebulum

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

Decorative 33cl bottle (label as pictured), from a gift set of 4 small bottles with different highland Scottish ales. Pours a very dark mahogany with an initially big, creamy beige head. Decent retention, generous lacing. Aroma of chocolaty malt, with a definite note of elderberries. Reminds me of a porter more than it does of a dark ale. Medium-bodied porter-style beer with low carbonation and an oily, smooth (but not very thick) mouth feel. On the lighter side of porters. Licorice and chocolate dominate the taste, which is very sweet, again, porter-style. The elderberry flavour (result of fermenting fruit, not just adding aroma!) is noticeable but blends nicely with the chocolate. The middle is a bit more bitterish and malty, but the finish is again lightly sweet. Lingering , mildly lickerish after taste. Not what I expected, but this is an ultra-smooth beverage for fans of the porter/stout styles. Not terribly complex, a bit too sweet I guess for many, but eminently well-balanced and extremely well-crafted dark beer. With a body a wee bit heavier, it would make a superb porter!

Bottle. Would think this beer would be a "Fruit Beer". I guess since it doesn’t use hops it is in this category. Dark, rich color. Gentle malt and berry smell. Not as cloy as one would think.

Black with a thin off white/cream head. Aroma is berries, lightly roasty, caramel, light smoke. Taste is roasty with a blackberry, marionberry background accenting followed by light smoke, and light caramel.

11.2 oz bottle. Pours dark back with a medium sized quickly shrinking tan head. It has a strong but pleasant aroma of malt and berries. It tastes of dark chocolate and has a very nice roasted taste along with a bit of a smoky taste and a fairly faint berry taste. I really enjoyed this beer a great deal.

11.2oz bottle. Pours a deep brown body with a finger-width, light brown head that dissipates slowly and leaves a pretty thick lacing on the surface and a medium lacing on the glass. Aroma is porter-like up front with a nice roasted malt, peppery smoke, and a pleasant milky chocolate. Some blackberries (elderberries, I guess) and a creamy lactic acidity as well. Flavor is a deep roast, light coffee up front with a sweet chocolate, berry, licorice balancing this out. Surprisingly roasty, which I really like. Some milky berries and roasted malt acidity accompanies this towards the end when it dries with a peppery berry, chocolate sweetness, licorice, deep roast aftertaste that lingers for quite awhile. Lighter bodied, soft, and silky smooth. Overall, a smokey and roasty, sweet chocolate berry beer that I really enjoyed. Very balanced with plenty of bold, porter-like taste to it. Nice one.

Bottle. Pours extremely dark ruby, almost black, with a small light tan head that doesn’t last long. Aroma is of aniseed, roasted malt, pepper, berries and cloves. Flavour is similar to the aroma but is pared down a little; there is malt, chocolate, pepper, liquorice and a hint of the berries, but it is all well integrated and the individual flavours are all fairly subtle. The elderberry is definitely noticeable, but if it weren’t for the labelling, it would be possible to mistake it for a combination of flavours from the other ingredients. Still, a very nice beer and another great traditional Scottish ale.

Pours a clean dark brown with a generous creamy mocha tan head. Nose is sweet and berry like, some light coffee roast, sweet chocolate. Flavor is sweet chocolate, light roasty, berries. Not bad. Light roast on the palate.

Dark purple-brown with a small head. Smells of currants, roasted malts and semi-sweet fruit. Starts out like a creamy caramel porter or a sweet stout, but finishes with a unique berry tone. Sweet and malty, slightly smoky with some licorice. Chewy with good balance and a fruity aftertaste. Interesting and good.