by Tange

Created on: June 30, 2007   Last Updated: November 07, 2008

While at this year's Great British Beer festival, held at Earls Court in London, we sampled one or two beers. Some we had tried before and a couple of ones that were new to us. One of the new beers for me came from the Scottish bar near where we were sitting. I went to get my first drink and this was the first bar we came to. On this bar were some beers brewed in Scotland ~ a couple from Heather Ales (now known as Williams Brothers Brewery) were on the handpumps at the front and caught my eye. I had tried and enjoyed their Fraoch and Kelpie so I decided to try another of their beers called Grozet Gooseberry and Wheat Ale.

~~~THE BREWERY.

William Brothers Brewing Company has recently become the trading name for this Scottish Brewery. They are still owned by Heather Ales Limited and brewing now takes place at their premises in Kelliebank, Alloa. The brewery began life in 1992 at Argyll, moving to Strathaven (not far from Glasgow) in 2000. They moved to Alloa in 2004 and have been producing their beers there ever since. Heather Ales beers are produced in bottles and as cask ales and can be found as guest ales in pubs throughout the UK and to several pubs regularly in Scotland. The bottles crop up via the internet and in selected supermarkets.

Among their range of historic beers you will find Fraoch (a light amber coloured beer brewed with heather at 4.1% ABV), Kelpie (a dark rich beer brewed using seaweed at 4.4% ABV) and Ebulum (a black beer with added elderberries at 5.8% ABV). The bottled versions of these beers are all slightly stronger than the cask ales.

~~~THE BEER.

*A Bit of Background*

Grozet (or Groseid) is actually the Gaelic word for "hairy gooseberry". Since medieval times, gooseberries have been used in the production of alcoholic drinks throughout Scotland. When Heather Ales were looking for a recipe for a new beer they decided to use an old source ~ the ingredients used by Monks and Ale wives of the 16th and 17th centuries. These brewers used ingredients that were readily available to make meads, wines and beers~ these included soft fruits, cereals and wild herbs. Grozet is available in bottles all year round and as a Cask product during August and September.

*Vital stats*

Grozet weighs in at 4.5% ABV (and slightly stronger in bottles at 5% ABV) and is brewed using lager malt, hops, meadowsweet, bog myrtle and wheat. Ripe gooseberries (grown in Scotland) are added during the second fermentation to give the flavour.

*Look, Aroma & Texture*

Grozet is a pale

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