Heather Ales Fraoch (Bottle)

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

The initial bottle aroma is almost bock-malty and raisin. That quickly fades to a yeasty malt aroma. Good label, light, hazy off-gold color. Dry, a little cidery, perhaps herb bittered. Flat and light bodied. Long, light indistinct hop finish. I was hoping for something more distinctive. Disappointing.

Very little smell, perhaps some tart apple smell in there. Light amber in color. Bigh head fades to 1/4th inch froth. Tastes like roses smell only sweeter. Has a grassy tartness on the finish. This was my first heather ale. I pride myself in not disliking any style of beer. I came close with this one. I imedieatly tried another heather ale (though I didn’t know it was a heather when I bought it) and began to appreciate the style. Perhaps in the future I would give this a better rating.

pale golden body with moderate carbonation. Lots of toasted barley in the nose, followed by sweet floral notes. Had a woody dry finish, balanced well. Well carbonated palate. Sugary sweet at first & a flowery sweetness prevails. this stuff and salted bavarian pretzles would be great all night long. Re-rate 6/03/03: floral, creamy, buttered crackers, a hint of chamomile. biscuty and real floral. dry, astringent, clean and citrucy. very refreshing

sweet & spicy aroma. Pours a golden yellow and has a slight cloudiness, mild carbonation and weak head. Not much in the way of the palate until the end. Finishes slightly sweet and a bit hoppy. I'd drink this again, as opposed to their Grozet, which was sub-par.

Golden color with no head to speak of and a floral aroma. The flavor is light and malty with distinct herbal and floral tastes. Fairly light and almost watery. Unique though not something I would get in bulk.

This is a new style for me. Not much head and had a very flat taste. There’s a sweet aroma to this that I cannot place. It’s probably a combination of the malts and the Heather...something I have not samples before. I’ll have to try a few different interpretations of this style to know where this lies amongst them.

a sim rate: The aroma, at first sniff, was of Walkers Smokey Bacon crisps... maybe even Frazzles. I’m now convinced that it’s actually closer to Walkers Roast Chicken. Mes, even now, swears it is in fact Smokey Bacon. I’m not so sure. But as he has eaten more crisps than I will ever consume in my life (especially those of a meat persuasion), I’m going to take his word for it. Smokey Bacon Crisps! The flavour tastes much like rosemary to me (my favourite herb, might I add). It’s refreshing and its relatively-low alcohol content and complex flavour makes it a great last beer of the evening. The aftertaste is more rosemary (have I mentioned that I have no idea what heather is meant to taste like? Is it a bit like rosemary?). Lovely. Refreshing. I will be buying this again.

No head. Light bronze color. Floral malty flavor with a touch of cinnamon. It has some interesting bittnerness that appears and dissappears quickly.