Fraoch Heather Ale
Rather an oddity this one.............
I was browsing the shelves of my local
"Oddbins" when I came across it. Reading the label, I discovered that there were
no hops in the recipe. Instead, it's brewed with malted barley and heather flowers, not to
mention "sweet gale", whatever that is.
I was expecting a very sweet, excessively flowery
brew, but I was very pleasantly surprised by how dry, malty, and subtly spicy it was. I
have to say that I've never tasted anything quite like it. Very smooth with a nice dry
finish, and very little carbonation. I wonder if the few bubbles there were are the result
of natural fermentation?
I liked this highly unusual beer so much, that it
almost took the "Beer Of The Month" title for January 1999, but I decided that
it deserved a place in the "Strange Brew" pages instead.
For more information, why not check out their website? It's very interesting
and it even has a home brew recipe for heather ale! So, why not brew your own and keep a
4000 year old tradition going?