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Heather Ales Ebulum

Percentile
85
overall
Brewed by Williams Brothers (Heather Ales)
Style: Traditional Ale

Alloa, Central, Scotland

bottled
common

on tap
unknown

Broad Distribution
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RatingsAverageScoreABVStyle PctlServe in
5953.45/5.03.45/5.06.5%85.7Dimpled mug, English pint, Stein, Yard
Commercial Description:
Bottled. A cask version at 5.8% is produced in October and November.
"Elderberry Black Ale"
Introduced to Scotland by Welsh druids in the 9th Century, elderberry black ale was part of the Celtic Autumn festivals when the "elders" would make this strong ale and pass the drink round the people of the village. The recipe was taken from a 16th Century record of domestic drinking in the Scottish Highlands. Elderberries were used for many natural remedies to cure sciatica, other forms of neuralgia, influenza and rhumatism as they contain tannins and fruit oils.
Ebulum is made from roasted oats, barley and wheat boiled with herbs then fermented with ripe elderberries.
A rich black ale with fruit aroma, silky soft texture,soft roasted flavour and gentle finish.
Recommended with stewed and baked foods.
Drink lightly chilled from a straight glass.
 Most Recent Top Raters Highest Ratings Who's Rated This?  
Macbeerboy (2), Whitby, Ontario, Canada
does not count click to see why this rating of Heather Ales Ebulum  does not count
4.8 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
8/105/510/105/520/20
Dec 23, 2004  
St-Ambroise Oatmeal Stout was my favourite beer until I tired this one. Oh God this is good stuff. It is surprisingly light and the flavour is rich. It’s too bad it is only around for the Christmas season at the LCBO. It’s also too bad that it is so expensive. It comes with 3 other traditional ales at a little over $13.00. Still it is worth it.


kask (15), Toender, Denmark
4.6 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
9/105/59/105/518/20
Jul 7, 2008    Updated: Jan 29, 2009
The colour is pitch-black. It is lowcarbonated and the formation of froth is therefore rather modest. The taste of hardroasted malt is very strong and persistent, the roasted taste is different from what I have tasted earlier, which probably can attribute to the admixture of roasted oats. The taste of elderberry recedes very appropriately into the background and it actually gives a weakly touch of liquorice. Other notes are dark chocolate and smoke. The bitterness is rather limited, so its a beer which in spite of the full-bodied taste seems pretty round and soft. Its an outstanding beer which I can´t get enough of.


 mikeben (344), Naperville, Illinois, USA
4.5 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
9/105/59/104/518/20
Apr 9, 2004    Updated: Jun 12, 2004
Good stuff. It tasted like what I imagine a smoked beer would taste like. It tastes roasted with a fruit undertone. I don't know if it tastes like elderberrys as I never had one. I will say it is something very different and worthy.


 khayman70 (154), Indianapolis, Indiana, USA
4.5 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
9/105/58/104/519/20
Dec 18, 2002  
I loved the flavor of this strange dark brew. It almsot has a burnt flavor.


 KAggie97 (2464), Ugly, Hot, and Humid Spring, Texas, USA
4.5 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
9/105/58/105/518/20
Jan 15, 2005  
Pours like a thick root beer. The smell is of thistle in a quaint Scottish garden, and the taste is of the rugged Highland earth. Smoky with a slight hint of peat moss initially, followed by the subdued sweetness of elderberry. Awesome. (Whenever I hear ’elderberry,’ I always think of Monty Python for some strange reason... Hmmm. Wonder why.)


 MrRain (433), O’Fallon, Illinois, USA
4.4 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
8/104/59/105/518/20
Nov 9, 2003  
Wow! Great suprise. I don't really like traditional ales but this was good. I don't know how to drink an elderberry beer so I used a tulip glass. It has a nice refreshing palate with just a hint of what I presume are elderberries. I didn't know elderberries existed other than for Monty Python to use as parental insults. It has a hint of smoke or malty flavor, it's a bit subtle. It still has the traditional beer rawness to it though. The taste may be a bit tainted by a raisin beer I drank earlier but all in all it is the best fruit-related beer I've had.


 Furseth (1329), Kungälv, Sweden
4.4 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
8/104/59/105/518/20
Jun 21, 2007  
Bottle at Haket Göteborg: Black nice colour,thin head. Aroma of lots of malt, raisins,dark Chocolate and a nice alc bitter nose.(remind me of a imp Stout) Flavor is almost the same, medium body,coffee,dry hops. Nice long finish. This must bee a Stout, more than a Traditional Ale or what?


 cgarvieuk (4191), Edinburgh, Scotland
4.4 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
9/104/59/104/518/20
Jul 31, 2009  
Deep black in colour with lovely bitter choclaty nose, Lovely sweet choclaty flavour with hint of burnt coffee...

Bottle at home ... BBF 0408 ... Drunk 0610 ... Deep black ... thin creamy tan bubbly head ... light roast dark fruits ... light fizz ... sweet malts ... dark fruity ... little chocolate ... little oatmeal ... plummy ...I dont think the age has added anything to this ... 4.2



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