Heather Ales Kelpie

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

this was the last of the gift pack i got from my bro back in scotland. he kept saying ’cant believe they made a beer with seaweed, quite picular?" poured almost opaque brown with hardly any bubbles to be seen. nose of choc malt, some toffee. mouth feel is weak in body not enough co2. mostly choc malt flavors on the palate with a bit of honey. easy drinking for this style. perhaps a bit thin on the backend.

Fridge Temp. I had this after some sauerkraut which I believe may have clouded my judgment. I found it to have a bizarre off flavor, but that may have been a reaction with residual acetic acid from the kraut. Everyone else found this malty and chocolaty which I totally missed so….

(11.2 oz bottle: Part of the "Historic Ales from Scotland" giftpack) Well, I don’t know what seaweed tastes like, but this comes across as a very nice and tasty, sweet English stout, or maybe a non-Belgian black beer, showing moderate roastiness, and a strong chocolate malt. There is a modest saltiness, and perhaps that’s the biggest contribution of the seaweed that I can discern. Mild smokiness joins the roastiness in the finish. The aroma is strongly chocolate, with lesser notes of roastiness, prunes and molasses. The barely carbonated palate is fairly substantial and rich at first, but finishes a bit weak. Dark brown in color, nearly opaque, even in front of a light, but the hue is clearly brown rather than black. Pours with almost no head, and very quickly, all that is left is a thin rim around the glass. My third of the Historic Scottish ales, and so far, I’m liking this one the best by far.

Big soy sauce aroma, light fruitiness. Dark color, oily, no head. Flavor has only light notes of soya and is quite light bodied. Light fruitiness, burnt coffe notes. Dry. A alternation, but not more.

Smells like a rich chocolate stout. Dark brown with a minimal head. A faint chocolate flavoring that is not bittersweet. The seaweed may give it its slight nutty flavor - but how can one be sure? Not to many seaweed beers out there so i declare this one the greatest (so far).

The aroma (which was somewhat sweet) was the best thing about this beer. It is pretty much a watery, nothing experience.

I love this brewer and their willingness to try anything...but this one was somewhat of a letdown. Kind of watered-down taste and feel to it. Try one anyway.

This is the only disappointment I’ve met in trying the Williams brothers’ traditional Scottish brews. Darkish brown, watery, and headless, this has a weak roasted malt aroma as if someone had diluted a good Scotch ale. The same pretty much holds true with the flavor... diluted and not very tasty. Alas.