Ebulum Ale - a review

cask of Heather Brewery Ebulum Ale (Scotland)

Dark, dark, dark. The head had lighter mocha tints. Strong roast and baker's chocolate aroma and flavor with a hint of winy fruit. The grist contains roasted barley, hence the stout-like character. The brew is infused with elderberries, which appeared as this hint of fruit, as opposed to the sickly-sweet character often encountered in US microbrew fruit beers. The 6.5% alcohol wasn't apparent..until a couple of pints had been consumed!

This is the best product (cask or bottle) I have tasted from this brewery, excluding a few marvelously fresh bottles of Fraoch I sampled last year from a just delivered shipment. Paradoxically, those bottles tasted fresher and more complex than casks of Fraoch delivered at the same time.

Tasted 4 February 2003 at Max's on Broadway in Baltimore, MD. The firkin had been broached for 24 hours and then served on the bar, at 50*F, open to atmosphere, and gravity-drawn.