Alba Scots Pine Ale
Williams Brothers (Heather Ales) in Alloa, Clackmannanshire, Scotland 🏴
Traditional Beer - Gruit Regular|
Score
6.64
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A traditional Highland recipe, popular in Northern Scotland until the end of the 19th Century. This "Triple" style ale is spiced with sprigs of spruce and pine, harvested in the spring and brewed with only a small token handful of hops. Break out the goblets and pour with abandon. Rich, tawny and best enjoyed at room temperature.
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6.8/10
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Appearance 6
Aroma 6
Flavor 7
Texture 8
Overall 7
Bottle at home, bought from somewhere in Buckingham. Close to the sell-by date for what it’s worth. Orange-brown, very hazy. Smell of malt, bit of orange peel. Spruce is there but not to the fore. Lovely taste, very moreish. Sweet with a bit of vegetable savoury. Sweetish finish almost reminiscent of a Belgian Tripel. The beer certainly grows on me. Wouldn’t mind another - some other time. For tonight this is enough.
Tried
from Bottle
on 22 Aug 2014
at 15:47
7.5/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 8
Flavor 7
Texture 6
Overall 8
Classical Scottish beer which, as most other beers from this brewery, intends to honour an ancient brewing technique, and may therefore be regarded as a ’historical beer’. Thinnish head, warm amber colour; rich and spicy aroma of gooseberry, bitter honey, some caramel and wood and an aromatic, hard-to-pin-down spiciness, which I suppose is the spruce that has been added; tastes fruity, malty and elegantly spicy with indeed a subtle accent of pine resin, as well as some woodiness. Interesting.
Tried
on 17 Jul 2014
at 13:20
7/10
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Appearance 6
Aroma 7
Flavor 7
Texture 8
Overall 7
Bottle from the LCBO. Pours a cloudy amber with a tiny white head that quickly disappears to a slight film. Nose is bread and caramel with some wood and berry. Taste is sweet honey and some cherries with enough bitterness that it is not cloying. Full slick mouth with soft carbonation and a chewy finish. Quite interesting as a sipper.
Tried
from Bottle
on 04 Jul 2014
at 16:30
7.6/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 9
Flavor 9
Texture 8
Overall 4.5
Poured from a bottle it is a slightly cloudy light amber color with a slight head. Let it come to took temperature as recommended and drank after finned. The aroma is of spruce and the taste is a sweet combination of honey flavor and pine that is refreshing after a meal. Very interesting the way it lingers on the palate
Tried
from Bottle
on 28 May 2014
at 18:29
7.2/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 7
Flavor 7
Texture 8
Overall 7
From a 33 cl bottle shared in Avon, NC. Pours hazy amber with a thin off white head. Aroma is of sweet pine. Flavors of caramel, butterscotch and spruce. On the sweet end of the spectrum. Smooth, viscous mouthfeel. A very lovely after dinner beer.
Tried
from Bottle
on 28 May 2014
at 17:55
7/10
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Appearance 6
Aroma 7
Flavor 8
Texture 6
Overall 7
Poured from 330mL bottle. Clear golden orange with white head. Caramel malt, fruity citrus, light roasted wood. Quite fruity with a bit of spruce thrown in the mix for a nice balance. Light-medium body.
Tried
from Bottle
on 17 Apr 2014
at 17:50
6.2/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 6
Flavor 6
Texture 6
Overall 6
Bottle 330ml @ home
Pours clear deep golden with a off-white head. Aroma has notes of malt, caramel, alcohol and floral. Taste is medium sweet and light bitter with a slightly warm and fruity finish. Body is medium, texture is oily, carbonation is soft.
Pours clear deep golden with a off-white head. Aroma has notes of malt, caramel, alcohol and floral. Taste is medium sweet and light bitter with a slightly warm and fruity finish. Body is medium, texture is oily, carbonation is soft.
Tried
from Bottle
on 09 Apr 2014
at 13:33