Heather Pale Ale
Salt Spring Island Ales

Pours very dark amber with light khaki head. Foam dissipated quickly and left light lacing on the side of the glass. Scent is light with notes of heather, yeast and malt. Tastes lovely; heather and malt up front with a lasting heather aftertaste. Medium carbonation and creamy feel.

I think it's quite nice.

Salt Spring Brewing 'Heather Pale Ale' @ 5.0% , served from a 473 ml can
A-pour is a dark gold from the can to a clear dark gold in the glass with a medium size off-white head leaving a fine spotty lace along the pint
S-heather flowers , hints of honey
T-clean & crisp 'pale' ale , taste the heather & mild use of hops
MF-ok carbonation , medium body
Ov-the 650 bottle says Heather Ale , the 473 ml can says Heather Pale Ale , just an ok beer
prost LampertLand

Faintly hazy red-copper color. Poured a medium sized head that took a long time to drop down. Medium-low flow of mixed sized bubbles rising from the bottom of the glass. Left a few small patches of lacing.

The dominant smell is a sharp spice and some strong medium-light roasted malt. The sharp smell is like the bite of pepper is present without the normal pepper scents. Swirling the glass kicked up a toffee barnyard (?) which faded down to straw with a faint barnyard. I don't smell any specific heather, but it strongly reminds me of a field getting grass and small bushes cut down and raked up.

Strong wild bush floral flavor (this must be the heather) and then a balanced medium malt fills in around it. Some black tea flavor blends in. It is slightly sour and slightly bitter. The aftertaste is a mix of dried brush and wild flowers. At the end it turns a little more bitter with a slight knapweed flavor. Again, this really reminds me of clearing vegetation off a field.
ETA: The florals become more distinct as it warms up.

This very slowly foams up into a coarse foam. It feels almost flat at first. This is different from expectations as visually it had a medium-low level of carbonation. Slightly astringent at the end when the aftertaste heads towards the bitter knapweed.

This is very distinctive. I first had this several years ago at the brewery. It is a real treat to see it show up in the local liquor store from time to time.