Last week I sat down with my father, Mike, and my neighbors Reed and Casey and had a tasting. I even went full on beer snob with tasting schooners and a pitcher of water to wash the glasses between tastes. I also read the history of each ale (provided on a pamphlet with the gift pack) before each taste. After tasting them, we realized a pitcher of water to cleanse our pallets was just as important as water to wash the glasses.
The ales we tasted were Fraoch Heather Ale, Ebulum Elderberry Black Ale, Alba Scots Pine Ale, and Kelpie Seaweed Ale.
I enjoyed the Alba Scots pine ale the best of the four. It had a sweet finish and a beautiful deep golden color. I really enjoyed the resin flavor and light bitterness imparted by the spruce tips and pine. I intend to try to make a similar spruce tip ale myself sometime.
The Fraoch Heather Ale was my next favorite. It had a similar deep golden color, but the flavor was sweeter and contained a hint of the floral taste from the heather. This ale had very little bitterness and contained a very smooth finish.
My next favorite was the Ebulum Elderberry Black Ale. This was the least unique tasting of all 4 beers. It was good, with a dark malty flavor containing dark coffee notes. The fruity flavor of the elderberries didn't come through strongly, but was present in the background. Overall this was a typical robust porter with a hint of something else.
The last Ale, Kelpie Seaweed Ale, was the most unique of the four. The flavor of the dark malts used was almost, but not quite, lost under the seaweed flavor. Good full body and a smooth ale in general, but I would not recommend it as a stand alone repast. I would make sure to couple this ale with food. The brewery recomends seafood in their tasting notes.
I guess that's it for the first tasting, now I have to set forth a list for the next one. Any theme suggestions? I can't decide between tasting all of a brewery's offerings, or several representatives of one style.