Heather Ale

[admin]

Heather Ale is a great accompaniment for a pipe.
This is my latest discovery thanks to my sweetheart thinking of me while she was shopping at World Market. World Market is a cool specialty grocery store that has products from all over the world that you don't normally find in other stores.
You can find some eclectic assortments of food, wine, and even some furniture from other countries.
Laura got me a variety pack of Heather Ale. I'm not usually much of a beer or ale drinker. I usually prefer liquor or wine. This stuff is quite unique though and I like it a lot.
Some are recommended to be drank cold, and some are better at room temperature in a wine glass.
They all go great with a pipe.

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.

http://www.williamsbrosbrew.com/historicales.php

 

[flanative]

Why am I just now finding out about this?
Gotta try it out1

 

[spacecowboy57]

Sounds good, here are my top 5 beers to drink with a nice smoke:
1. otter creek stovepipe porter

2. yuengling porter

3. weihenstephaner's dunkelweis

4. hoegaarden

5. purple haze
I like a nice thick malt in my beer, especially when smoking.

 

[shane]

Don't mind heather ale; I've had this a few times

And it's pretty good.
English ale breweries are the way to go if you like ale. This is my favourite:

It's a strong ale at about 9%. Don't know how easy it is to get in the USA though.

 

[buck67]

Hey Space, big thumbs-up on the Weihenstephaner. Very good brew!!!! They have several varieties that are excellent.

 

[surfmac211]

As of now these are my favorite beers not really in any particular order though.

1. Deschutes Brewery's The Abyss

2. Dogfish Head's Midas Touch

3. Stone's Imperial Russian Stout

4. Russian River Brewing Company's Pliny The Elder

 

[shane]

The last pictures didn't come out.

But this is a nice strong English ale (9%) from an 1899 recipe. Named after he brewery's cat.

 

[excav8tor]

The Jocks always want to think they invented beer. So the fact that the earliest recorded recipe for Ale comes from Babylonian clay tablets dated to 4,300 BC doesn't count in their eyes.
As a dedicated Ale drinker from England (and an ex-publican) the trick to drinking the stuff abroad is to buy the 'imported' bottled stuff from places such as World Market as Kevin says. Don't be tempted to buy a pint of the stuff from 'Ye Olde Pub' in places outside the UK because it won't taste good. Ale in barrels doesn't travel very well at all, so if it has come from the UK it will be vile. If it is brewed under license, it'll taste vile because it can never be replicated faithfully other than in than the country of origin. The only time an Ale will travel well is when it is bottled.
Some of the names of these bottled beers may well see you rolling around on the floor laughing.

"Stuff the Royal Wedding"

"Dogs Bollocks"

"Bushy Beaver"

"A Big Thankyou for Looking After the Cat"

"Old Slapper on Poole Quay"

"Love Muscle"

"Piddle in the Hole"

And one from a brewery just down the road from me in Newton Abbot... "Golden Showers"

And I wonder how many times people have phoned Customer Service and asked the question... "Excuse me, this 'Golden Showers' you brew. Are you taking the pi**"?
Stick to 'imported' bottles, you'll get a much better taste. I love Budweiser, but since they started to brew it under license in this country, I have not touched the stuff. We Brits can make a good Ale alright, but when it comes to a Lager... words fail me.

 

[spacecowboy57]

buck, i have only tried the weis and dunkelweis and loved them both. i can't seem to find any real good craft beers where i go to college though.
surfmac, how was stone's IRS? i have had their arrogant bastard ale and liked it. I really love a good stout, old rasputin IRS is good.

 

[unclearthur]

That Scottish Ale is good stuff. My favorite though is a local brew. Oscars Oatmeal Stout.

 

[hobie1dog]

just don't like beer... always looked like urine in the glass...just a poor visual for me.