Scottish Brewing History Lesson #1

My last theme week was wildly successful (actually, my readership neither increased or decreased), so I'm going to try it again.  This week, I'm going to be reviewing the four brews that were included in the Historic Ales of Scotland pack produced by Heather Ales Ltd./Williams Bros. Brewing Co.  The pack, with its nice looking packaging and its promise of four unique styles, was hard to ignore.

The concept is quite excellent--reviving historic ale styles that make use of locally-sourced ingredients and depart from the conventional hops and malt framework.  The fact that the ales all purport to be made using indigenous flora is definitely a selling point for me.

There are four bottles in the pack: an elderberry black ale, a gooseberry and wheat ale, a Scots pine ale and a heather ale.  All four are sold in 330mL bottles with excellent labels.  Additionally, they come with a brief historical pamphlet. They are all brewed at the Alloa Brewery in Kelliebank, Alloa, Scotland.  Stay tuned--each of my next four posts will relate to one of these brews.