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Heather Ales Fraoch (Bottle)

Percentile
66
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
8303.21/5.03.2/5.05%51.5Dimpled mug, English pint, Stein, Yard
Commercial Description:
Bottle: Filtered
Brewed in Scotland since 2000 B.C. heather ale is probably the oldest style of ale still produced in the world. From an ancient Gaelic recipe for "leann fraoich" (heather ale) it has been revived and reintroduced to the Scottish culture.
Into the boiling bree of malted barley, sweet gale and flowering heather are added, then after cooling slightly the hot ale is poured into a vat of fresh heather flowers where it infuses for an hour before being fermented.
A light amber ale with floral peaty aroma, full malt charachter, a spicy herbal flavour and dry wine like finish.
Recommended with rich and Spicy foods.
Drink slightly chilled from a fluted glass.
 Most Recent Top Raters Highest Ratings Who's Rated This?  
 patrick767 (2018), fort wayne, Indiana, USA
2.7 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
6/103/55/102/511/20
Jan 15, 2007  
bottle - Pours murky light brown with dark yeast floaters. The nose is mild malt and herb (apparently heather). I personally didn’t detect any hops in the aroma or taste. The description does not mention them and if this is truly a several thousand year old recipe, then they aren’t there. That wouldn’t surprise me. Anyway, the malty flavor is poorly supported by a thin, watery body. Sweetness and low carbonation makes it slide down easily enough. Kudos to the brewer for keeping an ancient style alive, but I’m just not impressed.


 M0RHI (1067), Luxembourg, Luxembourg
3.5 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
8/103/58/102/514/20
Jan 15, 2007  
Bottle. Pours a light chestnut with a thin white head. Nose of botanical malt, some bitter hop and coriander. Obvious peaty nose. Mouth is slightly sweet, very floral. Rather surprising, peat and coriander. Palate is bitter, slightly sweet, lasts well. Quite enjoyable, if not a little too fragrant.


 RedHaze (370), Where the hell am I?, Nebraska, USA
3.1 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
5/103/56/103/514/20
Jan 14, 2007  
Pours a slightly hazy coppery orange, with a half inch head that settles quikly to thin head, leaving behind only traces of lace. Smell; this has a very floral and herbal along with some sweet malts and a pleasant earthiness. The aroma very different aroma than any beer that I’ve ever had, and reminds of the fields I used to play in next to my house as a kid. Taste; once again very floral and herbal with some notes of honey that I didn’t get in the smell. This is mildly sweet on the back end, and surprisingly refreshing on this summer night. Mouthfeel is light bodied with a very low carbonation, and slightly dry in the finish. A very interesting, change of pace beer.


 Blackbarrel (116), new york, New York, USA
2.9 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
6/103/55/102/513/20
Jan 13, 2007  
Unique. I got the feeling this was not meant to be served refridgerator cold, which makes sense. A wine-ish aroma and taste, flowers, reminded me aof kava. Smoke, hops, alcahol, dish water. Historical interest rather than a regular quaff.


 lowg (123), Scarborough, Ontario, Canada
3 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
6/103/56/103/512/20
Jan 12, 2007  
Second beer from the Historic Ales of Scotland gift pack. This one poured a thick cloudy golden amber with practically no head. Aroma was malty with a hint of citrus. Flavour was a mostly fruity/citrusy with a tiny bit of malt here and there. Pretty good, but was kinda expected more.


 Lunkie (1020), Glen Iris, Australia
2.5 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
5/104/52/103/511/20
Jan 12, 2007  
Hop malt aroma with smokey finish. Murky red amber colour no no head or lacing. Hop malt aroma with smokey finish. Smooth palate.


 shintriad (698), Toronto, Ontario, Canada
2 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
4/102/55/101/58/20
Dec 31, 2006  
I found this very weak and insipid. A one-dimensional herbal flavour dominates, not much of a malt or hop backbone to hold it up. Very flat and watery to boot. I’m not hugely impressed by this offering.


AFrost (6), Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
does not count click to see why this rating of Heather Ales Fraoch (Bottle) does not count
1.8 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
4/103/53/101/57/20
Dec 29, 2006  
Bottle, 500ml, 5%alc., purchased at BCLDB. Colour was a cloudy golden with a thin head. Floral nose. Refreshing but uninspiring taste. Was worth the experience but likely won’t try it again.



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