Alba Scots Pine Ale - Williams Brothers Brewing Company

Erix

Vermont

3.85/5  rDev +1.9%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 3

Served cold from the fridge into a Maudite chalice.
Appearance: Very cloudy, rose copper in color, with a minimal head that dissipated quickly to a ring around the glass, no lacing.. A little sediment, but nothing major.
Smell: Sweet, almost floral, and slightly alcoholic. Suprisingly there is almost no smell of pine here when cold, but it does become more apparent as the beer warms.
Taste: Quite clean, almost no pine unless you're looking for it. Sweet and Floral, with hints of something maybe light Belgian sugars. Thats probably not right, but its the closest I can come to it. At 7.5% the alcohol is very well hidden. As it warms, the complexity increases, as does the alcoholic presence. There are no hops to contribute to an aftertaste, but the floral sweet flavor does linger a little. Pine flavor definitely becomes more noticable as it warms. Alcohol burn also becomes apparent.
Mouthfeel: Clean but not quite crisp, and rather smooth. Enjoyable.
Drinkability: More so than I would have expected at 7.5%, but the pine (as it warmed) might get a little strong after one or two of these. The sweeteness, while not cloying, is a bit more than I would like for a session beer.
The bottle recommends drinking this beer at room temperature, but I would suggest starting cold. I liked it best somewhere around 45 or 50 degrees.

Serving type: bottle

01-11-2004 16:44:48 | More by Erix

TheBeeraholic

Ontario (Canada)

3.5/5  rDev -7.4%

06-16-2013 14:11:19 | More by TheBeeraholic

Sunnanek

Sweden

4.5/5  rDev +19%

06-15-2013 18:19:04 | More by Sunnanek

Knuckles_Nuclear

Missouri

3.66/5  rDev -3.2%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.75

12oz bottle poured into a nonic. Low, loose head that dissipated, leaving minimal lacing. Color is a clear, deep auburn/brown...very pretty. The nose carried notes of earthy malt.

Very interesting...an initial malty pine flavor gave way to a somewhat bitter and boozy bite at the end. Not unpleasant, just different. The label states that this should be consumed at room temperature, and like a fool I didn't read it and I put it in the icebox. I suspect the flavor would be much more complex at room temp. Not an easy drinker, but a good one.

Serving type: bottle

06-14-2013 21:01:39 | More by Knuckles_Nuclear

yancot

Ontario (Canada)

4/5  rDev +5.8%

06-11-2013 03:26:56 | More by yancot

deniserat

California

4.5/5  rDev +19%

06-07-2013 20:52:29 | More by deniserat

bluelynbrewing

Florida

4.75/5  rDev +25.7%

06-02-2013 14:17:10 | More by bluelynbrewing

Slatetank

Pennsylvania

4.5/5  rDev +19%

05-25-2013 14:51:21 | More by Slatetank

kvnstfrd

Missouri

4/5  rDev +5.8%

05-23-2013 14:13:20 | More by kvnstfrd

Photekut

Azerbaijan

2.75/5  rDev -27.2%

05-18-2013 22:32:20 | More by Photekut

His_Royal_Hoppiness

United Kingdom (England)

3.5/5  rDev -7.4%

05-08-2013 20:09:28 | More by His_Royal_Hoppiness

juicebox

Massachusetts

3.5/5  rDev -7.4%

05-07-2013 01:08:23 | More by juicebox

wonothesane42

New Jersey

4.25/5  rDev +12.4%

04-17-2013 22:14:10 | More by wonothesane42

secondtooth

Indiana

4.03/5  rDev +6.6%
look: 3 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4

Pours a ruddy amber, with a limited head and no lace.

Nose is nicely woodsy, with definite spruce and pine needles and oils coming through prominently. Quite unique and appealing!

Tastes delicious -- very malty sweet, but the woody pine/spruce infusion adds an entirely different profile to this brew. I would gladly buy more of these if they were more widely available!

Serving type: bottle

04-01-2013 14:10:24 | More by secondtooth

Whiskeydeez

Kansas

3.5/5  rDev -7.4%

03-18-2013 16:56:39 | More by Whiskeydeez

akttr

Michigan

3/5  rDev -20.6%

03-10-2013 07:50:52 | More by akttr

t0rin0

California

4/5  rDev +5.8%

03-07-2013 12:43:30 | More by t0rin0

gopens44

Virginia

3.99/5  rDev +5.6%
look: 4.75 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Probably the most striking attribute of this beer would be the appearance. Hazy copper with a nearly perfect foamy creme colored head. Oddly, virtually no lacing. The aroma immediately took me to a direction I wasn't expecting from something called pine - this thing smells balls on like a barleywine. No difference at all. Taste immediately goes the barleywine route (sweet malty goodness) until from out of nowhere, a pungent tartness pops up. The finish is just a touch tinny with a slight bitterness lingering. Body overall goes from creamy to thin by the finish. Overall, its quite different and a good departure from pretty much anything else but not something you can really throw down in any quantity.

Serving type: bottle

02-21-2013 21:55:49 | More by gopens44

heygeebee

Australia

2.75/5  rDev -27.2%

02-21-2013 09:51:12 | More by heygeebee

Braz

Washington

3.73/5  rDev -1.3%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Aroma: Floral and woody. Good amount of malt. Has a very sweet smell.

Appearance: Very dark but clear ruby amber color. Moderate white has leaves nice amount of lace.

Taste: Very different. Starts with malt sweetness, is then followed by a woodsy punch of pine. I picked up more pine than spruce. No bitterness.

Mouthfeel. A little sweet but nicely carbonated. Has a balanced feel but the aftertaste lingers quite a bit.

Overall: Glad I finally tried this. Interesting for sure. Probably not something I'd go to great lengths to try again. Mainly due to the aftertaste, it just kicks around too long.

Serving type: bottle

02-21-2013 03:15:09 | More by Braz

lupercmda

North Carolina

3.75/5  rDev -0.8%

02-19-2013 03:49:49 | More by lupercmda

DmanGTR

New York

4.25/5  rDev +12.4%

02-10-2013 16:16:06 | More by DmanGTR

JackRB

Ohio

4.25/5  rDev +12.4%

02-06-2013 00:44:17 | More by JackRB

maclean25

British Columbia (Canada)

3.5/5  rDev -7.4%

02-04-2013 02:46:54 | More by maclean25

jbenson8774

Pennsylvania

4/5  rDev +5.8%

02-04-2013 01:41:23 | More by jbenson8774