Beann Gulban Barrel Aged Heather Sour Ale
The White Hag in Ballymote, Sligo, Ireland 🇮🇪
Traditional Beer - Gruit Regular|
Score
7.24
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An old Irish recipe, over 2000 years old. Irish heather flowers are used in place of hops to balance the sweet, rich malt. The natural fermentation from locally harvested wild yeast and souring bacteria give this beer a sense of place and terrior and barrel aged for 2 years in Hungarian & French oak barrels.
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8.2/10
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Appearance 10
Aroma 8
Flavor 8
Texture 10
Overall 7
Bottle shared at Sörök Háza. Nem készítettem jegyzeteket, csak pontoztam a sört.
Tried
from Bottle
on 17 Mar 2025
at 11:57
7.5/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 7.5
Flavor 7.5
Texture 7
Overall 7.5
Draught Small greyish white head, stable, over purplish brown, veiled beer. Alcohol, fusels, old sherry, dried fruit as prunes. Diluted old vintage wine, maybe fortified, again this prune-like flavour; lactic acid, buttermilk, faint brown candi sugar. Light body, but very slick, almost oily. Despite the stable head, not very carbonated feel. Longlasting flavours, acidthinning. I'm a bit dumbfounded. Give me this as a Flemish Oud Bruin, and I'd say that it's a bit thin, certainly for its 7% ABV, but pretty complex all the same, and hence, good. But... gruit? Where are the herbs that are supposed to be in gruit? Ireland is full of bogmyrtle - where is it? I don't get the resin from the heather, the pinecones... weird.
Tried
from Draft
at
Café Pardaf
on 14 Jan 2023
at 07:45
7.5/10
—
Appearance 6
Aroma 8
Flavor 8
Texture 6
Overall 8
Kobber klar skum brun Røg tøv lys malt korn jord vinøs Syrlig modrate sød modrate Vandre bldø
Tried
on 29 Mar 2022
at 16:27
7/10
—
Appearance 6
Aroma 7
Flavor 7
Texture 6
Overall 8
Bottle shared at Chris and Ruth Pre-GBBF 2017 tasting - London. Cheers! Pours unclear orange-gold with a creamy, white head. The aroma holds passionfruit, peach, melon. Light to medium sweet flavour with notes of dried berries, light acidity, more peach and melon. Light in body with average carbonation. Clean, tart berry finish with some citrusy accents. Nice one.
Tried
from Bottle
on 29 Apr 2021
at 20:23
8/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 8
Flavor 8
Texture 8
Overall 8
Murky, brownish color and a tiny white head. Harsh sour nose, some vinegar, some vinous aroma. Sour taste, balsamico, vinegar, fruity, slightly floral. Very nice!
Tried
on 12 Feb 2021
at 08:20
7/10
Tried
from Bottle
on 20 Dec 2020
at 12:15
6.6/10
—
Appearance 6
Aroma 6
Flavor 8
Texture 4
Overall 7.5
Corked bottle. 2017. Reddish brown color. Herbal yoghurt, I can’t describe the aroma in a different way. Butter, hint of toffee, Sour, oaky vinous, buttery flavor with toffee, herbs. Vanilla. Weird flavors, But this beer grows on you.
Tried
from Bottle
on 25 Aug 2020
at 21:10
8/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 8
Flavor 8
Texture 8
Overall 8
375ml bottle shared with Mark whilst brewing an apple saison. Pours a misty purple hewn mahogany, thin ring of white bubbles. Sharp sour fruity nose with good heather presence. Sharp sour on the palate, great use of heather, with a nice fruity floral character overall, some red berries, distant balsamic. Very enjoyable.
Tried
from Bottle
on 21 Oct 2019
at 09:45
6.5/10
—
Appearance 6
Aroma 6
Flavor 6
Texture 6
Overall 8
Thin collar with a spotty off white cover on an unclear oak coloured body. Woody aroma with oak. Dry tastes if sour wood (?), Peach & confectionery.
Tried
on 10 May 2019
at 22:56
6.8/10
—
Appearance 6
Aroma 7
Flavor 7
Texture 6
Overall 7
Bottle sample at a tasting at avrashi's place. Hazy amber. Vinegar, heather, wood, fruitiness, sour, acidic, medium-bodied.
Tried
from Bottle
on 27 Apr 2019
at 15:29