Dead Soldier
Where to Dig Up More About This Beer
Alba Scots Pine Ale
Williams Brothers Brewing Company
Brewed by Heather Ale Limited
FK10, 1NT
Alloa, UK Scotland
Est. 1988
www.heatherale.co.uk
Brain Damage Quotient = 7.5 % ABV
Fluid Oz. = 11.2
Postmortem Brew Review
Dark gold and clear in color.
Smell of fresh pine aromas; not hints, but rather real pine smell.
Off-white head dissipates rapidly and covers to wisp.
Some lacing down the side of the glass.
Bright pine flavors as if you are drinking the sap of a tree. Not much malt detected.
Modest carbonation.
Light to medium mouth feel.
Grim Reaper's Eulogy
You've no doubt heard the word haggis. How many have looked up what it is? Mmmmmm, sounds delish! No??? Well, the Scottish are a little weird, but I can be weird-er. May I suggest a food and beer pairing?
As long as it's gonna be a Andrew Zimmern event menu-wise, let's keep the beer in the same region. Region of weirdness that is. Alba is a Scottish Gruit style beer, an ancient recipe that gathers those things directly from an area and combines them as a fermented concoction. While most IPA's tend to have characteristics of pine notes, Alba has actual sprigs of spruce and Scots pine thrown into the batch. They are gathered fresh during the spring months.
The bottlers call this a "triple" style ale from a traditional Highland recipe. The Vikings brought us both haggis and Scottish Gruit. If it was good for those hardy souls, it should fortify us. Natural diet proponent Euell Gibbons once asked in a 1970's breakfast cereal commercial, "Ever eat a pine tree?" Well, now I can say that I have drunk one, at least. It's a bluuudy fresh piney baastaard!
Would I drink this again? Yes. Would I ever eat haggis? Uh, no thanks.
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