Origin: Scotland
Type: Triple
Color: Amber
Alcohol content: 7.5%
Recommended serving temperature: 12ºC/54ºF
Brewery: Williams Bros. Brewing Co.
Webpage: http://www.williamsbrosbrew.com/beerboard/bottles/alba
This is the second
beer I've tried that's brewed by the
Williams Bros. Brewing Company, after the Fraoch Heather Ale, on which I
already wrote a post a few months ago. I got it as part of a pretty substantial
order I made for a small gathering with
friends, but kept it for my own personal stash, hidden away to try on my own so
I could appreciate it without any distractions.
The beer is amber
in color but not too dense in texture, as a matter of fact it is almost
translucent, see-through. It has as a consequence a
certain marzenbier look to it, albeit a smaller amount of foam than marzenbiers
tend to develop. It is nevertheless noticeably carbonated despite the moderate
amount of foam.
It has a pretty
sweet smell where you can notice malt and honey, giving it a certain sweetness
in its odor, and pines and forest-like touches.
The latter are also
present in its taste, while the former virtually disappear.
Indeed, the main
flavors I get on taking a swig of this beer are herbs, licorice and pine.
However, even if the malt and honey disappear in the taste of this beer, the
sweetness does not, or at least does not completely. This makes for a very
pleasant combination, as it takes away some of the roughness of the pine by
combining it with a soft herby flavor and some sweet touches, which makes the whole
thing rounder and more balanced.
The licorice I must
confess is purely my own interpretation, as it is nowhere to be seen in
the ingredients. These include (aside from pine) spruce and bog myrtle, but not
licorice. I imagine that the resin of these two plants is the source of the
sweetness in the flavor and smell. However, licorice does come to my mind when
I taste this beer, not as much due to its sweetness, but in its peculiar
flavor. In fact, to be even more specific, this beer made me think of Twizzlers
of all things. Random maybe, but pretty consistent with the sweet and resinous
taste of its actual ingredients.
Bog Myrtle was
actually often part of the mix of different herbs known as Gruit, with which
beer was apparently made in the middle ages in (parts of) Europe, albeit in
different varieties (this was the case for example in Brugges, with whose
city-specific blend, according to the Brewery's webpage, Brugge Tripel was
originally made).
This is therefore
another one of Williams Bros.' beers that are made inspired on antique or
traditional methods (like Fraoch Heather Ale), and another one which is
absolutely spot on.
PS: The blog finally has a Facebook page, Beers and Breweries of the World, make sure to like it!
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