Beann Gulban Irish Heather Ale
The White Hag Irish Brewing Company

Burnt reddish brown, lightly hazy, with a short off-white blanket.

This beer exhibits a very uniquely expressive blackberry and boysenberry sort of character without being excessive or overly sour or fruity. It's seedy and herbal with a softly fluffy medium body, and just perfectly sour yet smooth, coming to a semi-dry finish.

 

 

 

Ordinary sour.
Hazy copper/amber, almost no head, fatal retention.
Smell - sour, tart fruits.
Taste - tart, grainy, heather hints, utterly banal.
Medium body, ok carbonation.
Give my money back!

L - orange-red-glowy dark brown, slightly hazy, with a minimalistic white creamy head that dissipates quickly
S & T - applejuice, herby dry grass, sliiiight hint of horse stables with hay, red wine, balsamico
F - light bodied, good spritzy carbonation, very refreshing, but had a pleasant sipper-quality due to the red wine-iness that just made me want to savor it rather than chug it

O - sampled at a beer festival, this beer was my first encounter with a red wine barrel-aged Scottish heather ale, and it was THE definite winner of the fest for me. What a fantastic beer. Do drink it while fresh, though, as I got one bottled and then aged it, which, like the hops in IPA's, made that unique heather gruitiness fade and turned it to a regular applejuice-esque bottle of meh. My own damn fault, and what a mistake that was, as it is a gorgeous, gorgeous beer otherwise. It has such a distinct quality over other wild/sour ales. So unique. I love it. One of my all-time favorite beers. And whenever I come across these guys at any beer festival again, you're damn sure I'll be getting one of these, close my eyes and have a little mental vacation to the heather fields of Scotland in ages past. Gorgeous.

I absolutely recommend this one.

 

 

 

 

 

(Bottle - Flavourly) This is pretty nice, light and very similar to red wine elegantly turning into vinegar. Soft, fruity, with a big sharp bite of citrus acid on the finish.

Au nez, l’odeur principale est celle du cheval, cette forte odeur si caractéristique de cette animal. C’est pour le moins surprenant! Présence également du cuir de vieille selle, et des odeurs plus classiques d’agrumes, de citron surtout, ainsi que de la bruyère. En bouche, forte attaque acide: pas aussi acide que dans une Cantillon, mais bien acide quand même. On a l’impression que la bière n’a pas été infectée dès le début de la fermentation, mais plutôt en cours de fermentation, ce qui fait que cette acidité est balancée par un corps et des arômes plus classiques, plus doux, de levure et de malt caramel. Forte présence du jus de citron, comme si c’est le citron qui était à l’origine de l’acidité. La bruyère est également la, mais pas aussi présente que dans une Fraoch par exemple.Au final c’est une bière acide mais légèrement adoucie, au corps présentant plus de tenue qu’une gueuze traditionnelle, qui s’avère très buvable passé les premières odeurs inhabituelles

 

Pours a dark tan. Smells tart, crisp, and slightly sweet. Tastes tart/sour, crisp, clean, refreshing... just a great sour.