Heather Ales Fraoch (Bottle)

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

Fraoch is a light amber ale with a bubbly white head that mostly diminishes. It has a lot of aroma! It’s medicinal and grassy and sweet like honey or candy. It is very smooth-- medium bodied with a mineral finish. The flavor is more of the same: herbal, grassy, candy. Very unique!

500 ml. Hazy, beautiful burnt orange with a two-finger cap that lasts well. Slight aroma of grassy honey and caramel, then later some peat. Flavor is oddly back and forth from earthy-spicy caramel apple to dryish floral herbs. The floral component shows up more in the aftertaste. Near-medium body is smooth, dryish, and a bit tingly. This unique brew is well-crafted.

From the bottle. Aroma is sweet with caramel malt forward with light roast tones and some heather. Appearance is light gold with a persistant white head. Flavor is sweet malt with herb tones forward followed by some slight sour and tart flavors. Mouthfeel is medium/light bodied with good creaminess and even a creamy finish. Overall, very good, well made and not too sweet for such an old style. The sourness even works as a fairly good compliment.

bottle poured inot a fluted glass (they said to ) cloudy golden color lots of carbonation but no head slight lace , sweet floral earthy aroma.Clean light watery mouthfeel (not a bad thing ) strong heather flavor sweet and refreshing great ale

Bottle: Poured very evenly, with nice medium-size light head, which dissipated quickly. Aroma very strong with notes of cask and, well, peat. First sip is slightly bitter, but with delicious cinnamon and, well, peat flavors. Complex. Further tastes and the initial dryness subsides, leaving a clean, refreshing ale with floral character. Heather ale indeed.

Presentation: It was poured from a brown 11.2oz or 330ml bottle into a pint glass. The back label has a very clear best before date (month and year) notched out. The date notched was Feb. 2010 and it was sampled on 6-10-09. Appearance: It has a golden honey colored body with a lightly hazy appearance. There is not much of head, just a small light foamy covering that fades out to nothing quickly. There is no lacing to mention at all. Smell: The aroma has an interesting full floral bouquet with some honey like sweetness, some light grain notes and fresh salty sea air. Taste/Mouth: There is an odd dry grain with a hint of mineral flavor like sea air and a solid floral character throughout. Underneath there are some sweeter malt, honey and buttery notes that mix with the floral heather notes. The floral notes build up to the finish and add a pleasant bitterness and dryness to it. The palate is slick and smooth with light carbonation and a light to medium body. Notes: This is a very interesting flavored beer with a very interesting history to the style of the beer.

amber in color with very little head. the light body makes for arefreshing, easy drink. the slight dryness on the finish really adds to the flavor. nothing too complex, but still a pretty good ale.

I love hops but this was a nice surprise. A gruit ale with no hops. Nice looking honey colored beer. Cloudy. Head doesn’t last. Well-carbonated. The malt is slightly sweet (pale malt), with a little caramel taste. The heather gives an immediate but "mellow" bitterness. Balanced. Very little aftertaste. Excellent beer.