Fraoch Heather Ale

Williams Brothers Brewing

Fraoch Heather Ale - 5.0% ABV

Rating: A

"Brewed in Scotland since 2000 B.C. heather ale is probably the oldest style of ale still produced in the world. From an ancient Gaelic recipe for "leann fraoich" (heather ale) it has been revived and reintroduced to the Scottish culture. Into the boiling bree of malted barley, sweet gale and flowering heather are added, then after cooling slightly the hot ale is poured into a vat of fresh heather flowers where it infuses for an hour before being fermented."

This is another of the historic ales from Williams Brothers. This is actually the brew that started it all for them. I first had this one several years ago actually. At that point i had no idea how rare and unique it actually was. I knew i liked it and it was right at the beginning of when I started to crave better beer. Fast forward a few years and I get to revisit an old friend, and learn a bit about my heritage's beer brewing history. On to the beer though!

So this baby pours out to a nice rich golden color with a thing but full head. Has a very nice sweet herbal and nectar like floral aroma. Slight earthy malt aroma as well but mostly herbal and floral. When you sip it you get a nice light and crisp sweet honey like malty taste first. A little sweet bread like taste as well. That fades quickly though and the herbal spice comes in. You taste the herbal spice flavor of the heather and it just warms and lingers. You get a nice slight grassy honeysuckle and peppery finish along with the herbal spice notes. Again, a nice long warm slightly bitter aftertaste. Very pleasant.

This beer is simply a treat to taste. For one thing it's just a damn fine beer with great flavor. Second you get all these flavors with no hops and from different ingredients then you'd find elsewhere. Not that beers with the traditional main ingredients are bad but it's nice to have a change every so often. This is a change you'll be damn glad you tried. Of their 5 historic ales this one is easily my favorite. I'm giving this a full blown A rating.