A taste of heather

[BoldHighlander]

While looking at some articles on the heather plant, I ran across these recipes on this site:
http://www.electricscotland.com/gardening/heather.htm

& I thought I'd share them here. There were others for heather tea & honey, but I'll post those elsewhere.
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HEATHER ALE - A Galloway Legend

From the bonny bells of heather,
They brewed a drink Lang Syne
Was sweeter far than honey
Was stronger far than wine.

R.L. Stevenson

Heather has been used over the years to flavour many different foods and drinks. Little is actually known about the early beverages of Scotland. However, many tales are told of brewing ales and wines from heather flowers. One such brew was known as Heather Crap Ale.

TRADITIONAL RECIPE FOR HEATHER ALE
Ingredients: Heather, hops, barm, syrup, ginger and water. ‘Crop the heather when it is in full bloom, enough to fill a large pot. Cover the croppings with water and set to boil for one hour Then strain into a clean tub. Measure the liquid and for every dozen bottles add one ounce of ground ginger, half an ounce of hops and one pound of golden syrup. Bring to the boil again and simmer for 20 minutes. Strain into a clean cask. Let it stand until milk-warm and then add a teacupful of good barm. Cover with a coarse cloth and let it stand till next day Skim carefully and pour the liquid gently into a clean tub so that the barm is left at the bottom of the cask. Bottle and cork tightly The ale will be ready for use in 2 or 3 days and makes a very refreshing and wholesome drink as there is a good deal of spirit in heather’

As recently as 1993, an AlIoa brewery went into production of Heather Ale using an ancient recipe [note: that would be Fraoch Ale].

TRADITIONAL RECIPE FOR HEATHER WINE.
1 ½Ibs. Heather Tips (in full bloom)
1 Gallon water
3-4 lbs. Sugar (according to sweetness desired)
2 Lemons
2 Oranges
1 teasp. dried yeast
1 teasp. yeast nutrient.

Cover heather with the water and boil for one hour. Strain off liquid and measure. Restore to one gallon, and add sugar. Stir until completely dissolved. When the temperature drops to 70F, add yeast and nutrient. Leave for 14 days. Then strain into fermentation jar, and when fermentation ceases, strain and bottle. Keep for at least six months!

HEATHER WHISKY

It is said that some of the finest brands of whisky derive some of their most delicate flavours from the heather.

At the Highland Park Distillery, in Kirkwall, Orkney, there was a peculiarly shaped timber building, referred to as the ‘Heather House’. This was where heather, which had been gathered in the month of July when the plant was in full bloom, was stored. Carefully cut off near the root, and tied into small faggots of about a dozen branches each, the heather was used on the peat fire to help dry the malt and impart a delicate flavour which, was claimed, to give Highland Park Distillery its unique taste.

It is interesting to note that in former times the wooden containers for fermentation, known in whisky distilleries as ‘washbacks’, would be cleaned using heather besoms. And when new stills were installed, bundles of heather would be placed in the water and boiled in order to sweeten the still before the first distillation took place.

In the nineteenth century and possibly even earlier, illicit stills were used to make whisky - in broad daylight. The crofters were able to do this because, by gathering up and using old stumps of burnt heather, they could make a fire without smoke, and so not raise suspicion!

[Une]

That is very interesting thanks for that.

[Phil]

Leanne Fraoch - heather ale. Lovely stuff. This place brews it here in Scotland - http://www.fraoch.com/ - and it is becoming more widely available.

[The Thing]

Well there you go, never knew there was any use for heather other than being beautiful.
The Heather is starting to bloom in Scotland and Ireland, the summer heather. It lifts the heart to see it.

[GMan]

Can't wait to try it.

[BoldHighlander]

Leanne Fraoch - heather ale. Lovely stuff. This place brews it here in Scotland - http://www.fraoch.com/ - and it is becoming more widely available.

Thanks Phil.
I think that's the same brewer that produces the heather ale I'm familiar with: Legends Limited: Fraoch Heather Ale.
They're a little hard to find in my neighborhood, so I grab them when I see them. I've also had their Alba Scotts Pine Ale. Legends Ltd also distributes some others I'm also on the look out to try: the Kelpie Seaweed Ale for instance, which uses seaweek (bladder rack) harvested on the Argyll coast in their ale.
I've also had the Skullsplitter Orkney Ale found on the Legends site. It's brewed by the Orkney Brewery.

[BoldHighlander]

Well there you go, never knew there was any use for heather other than being beautiful.
The Heather is starting to bloom in Scotland and Ireland, the summer heather. It lifts the heart to see it.

Yeah, I knew about the heather ale but that website I first listed at the top of this thread lists all kinds of uses for heather.

[Heming]

Leanne Fraoch - heather ale. Lovely stuff. This place brews it here in Scotland - http://www.fraoch.com/ - and it is becoming more widely available.

Only problem is they don't export to Norway I've sent them an e-mail asking if they might be able to sell me a few bottles mail order style.

But we do get their elderberry ale (Ebulum), which is fantastic.