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.
Tasting Notes
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Tasting Tips from the Brotherhood
Colour
Make yourself comfortable in a well-lit room. Pour your beer into a glass and take a good, long look.
Describe what you see. Is it clear or cloudy? Does the foam on the head stick around or quickly dissipate? Is that foam "rocky" or "fluffy" and how would you describe its colour? Does the foam leave "lace" on the glass as you sip the beer? And the bubbles? Tight and champagne-like or larger and more bulbous?
Finally, colour: Use as many words as you want to describe it.
- Tawny
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Tasting Tips from the Brotherhood
Aroma
Did you know the sense of smell accounts for about 80% of flavor perception?
Okay, here we go: Let your freshly-poured glass of beer breathe for a few moments. Now, give it a few brief sniffs. Swirl the glass a bit—like you’ve seen wine-buffs do—and have another whiff. Look past the obvious "smells like beer" responses. What other aromas are you getting? Maybe toasted malts, piney hops, maybe ester-and-phenol-producing yeast? Fruit? Spices?
- Pine and Toffee
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Tasting Tips from the Brotherhood
Taste
Now that you have visually inspected your beer & described its aroma, you can engage in tasting. Remember that tasting is about the transition of flavors from the first sip contact through the finish.
Allow the beer to coat the inside of your mouth. Allow the liquid to run the full gamut of your tongue and hit all those taste bud areas, importantly, the bitterness receptors at the back of the tongue.
Now, describe the length, intensity and quality of the finish.
- Woody, Spicy, Sweet and Warming
- Bitterness
- Sweetness
Brew Sheet
- Style
- Scots Pine Ale
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ABV
Brewer's Lingo
ABV
ABV stands for Alcohol By Volume. It is a standard measure of how much alcohol is contained in a given volume of an alcoholic beverage.
- 7.5%
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IBUs
Brewer's Lingo
IBUs
IBUs stands for International Bittering Units. We use the IBU scale to measure of the bitterness of beer, which is provided by the hops used during brewing.
The bittering effect is less noticeable in beers with a high quantity of malt, so a higher IBU is needed in heavier beers to balance the flavor.
- 18
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OG
Brewer's Lingo
OG
OG stands for Original Gravity.
- 1072
- Malts
- Ale Malt, Crystal Malt, Malted Wheat
- Hops
- First Gold
- Full ingredients
- Water, Malted Barley, Malted Wheat, Pine Sprigs, Spruce Sprigs, Hops, yeast Allergy Advice: For allergens, including cereals containing gluten, see ingredients in bold above.
- Calories
- 71kcal per 100ml
- Available in…
- 330ml Bottle
Drink Alba with…
Strong cheese & oatcakes. Fruit cake.
From the drinkers of Alba
One of my favourite beers. Huge fan. I enjoy the pine flavour. This reminds me of Dog Fish Head, but without the outrageous price. I bought the Alba out at our local pub. It's true that at room temperature the taste improves.
I normally drink Belgian beers and have tried the best that they have to offer and they are the best beers in the world, but Alba beat them all in my opinion. This is no finer ale!
This beer is unique and wonderful, the flavour is rich and deep with a smooth drinkability and slightly delayed pine finish. I only had one as it was in the historical ales 4 pack. I serve it at the suggested temperature. A real winner!
