Heather Ales Fraoch (Bottle)

Bottled. Clear amber coloured with a small white head. Fruity aroma with notes of malts. Fruity flavour with notes of malts. Hoppy finish.

I like it. It’s a different beer, the heather really adds something to it. It’s very drinkable, light and slightly sweet, with a wonderful nose.

Remembering all those beers gives me like vomit feelings. IT was nice, and very crafty too. But this Ales are very heavy.

I’m well aware that nearly anything can be squeezed hard enough to produce oil, and only the less than pleasing taste of most things keeps grocers from selling strange and exotic varieties like “Janitorial Sponge Oil” or “Oil of Panda”. I was not aware, however, that the same principle could be expressed in beer, albeit to a more limited degree. Fraoch is once case where if you try hard enough you can put the flavor of anything into anything. Not to say it’s easy; beer is hospitable to natural flavors from every corner of the globe. Compare this to, say, Pop-Tarts, where chances are slim you’ll find an exotic Sri Lankan flavor next to the Double-Choco-Marshmallow like you would find a Sri Lankan beer a few fridges down from the Coors. Fraoch has claimed to harness the flavor of Scottish heather, to infuse it with the natural good tastes of beer and to make a unique flavor unique to this Scottish brewery. I’d say they’ve done just that. The Fraoch isn’t spectacular by sight: an orange and brown beer, very clear and a mild foam on top. The smell is a notch closer to its quality side, slipping in hints of flower, spices and pumpkin (what a perfect time of year!). A bit more detective work can pick out cinnamon, but my sleuthing skills are comparable to the Pink Panther’s, so don’t trust me on that last claim. Meanwhile, the taste is extremely flowery. Which flower I cannot say, since it has been many years since my infancy and a few calls to poison control since I’ve gone about picking flowers. I imagine it’s the heather speaking. The beer is very mild, great for weaker tastes and nebbish beer tasters, though I’m unsure what the seasonal preference should and would be. I’m inclined to say fall because that’s when you’re missing the flowers most, but fall also is wanting of a deeper and darker beer to stave off the precocious winter cold. Perhaps spring, but I leave it to the consumer. Fraoch is a beer true to its word; an admirable quality in any beer or human.

A hazy orange beer with a huge off-white head. The aroma is quite spicy with lots of herbs, as well as notes of chocolate. The flavor is sweet with quite powerful notes of honey, but also notes of flowers, I seem to pick up roses, and herbs, but also some heather. The end is dry with the spicy honey lingering. I like this - I would have enjoyed living 4000 years ago, if this was what I was drinking.

Syrupy but not too sweet. Good malt hop balance. Not too bitter. Session-like.

Malty aroma rises from freshly opened bottle. Pours a deep orange with very little head. What head there is has soapy look. The aroma has slight floral tones with hints of heather (no suprise since fraoch is Gaelic for heather and this ale is made using traditional techniques and flavored with the flower of the heather plant). The flavor is very malty with no strong bitterness at the front but it does coat the tongue with a slight bitterness on the finish. The malty sweetness stays on the palate long after finishing the drink. Definitely worth a try for anyone who enjoys malty beers.

Pours a golden amber with very little head. Earthy aroma with a little citrus. A very smooth taste with just a little bitterness in the aftertaste, but does not linger too long on the palate. This beer did gain more flavor as it warmed up, so it might have been too cold initially.