My Heather Ale Recipe

Here's what I brewed for my Leanne Fraoch:

1 can John Bull light extract
3 lbs. Muntons light DME
1 cup table sugar carmelized (boiled until dark)
8 oz Victory Malt
8 oz Simpson's Golden Promise
1/2 oz Fuggles FWH
2 cups fresh heather - 45 min (fraoch)
2 cups fresh heather - 15 min
1 cup fresh lavender leaves - 15 min (an lus liath)
1/2 oz Kent Goldings - 15 min
1 tsp Irish Moss - 15 min
1 cup fresh heather - 5 min
WL028 Edinburgh yeast

OG 1.055
racked to secondary 11/29, SG 1.015
Bottled 12/06, SG 1.015, ABV 5.3%

I was origanally disapointed at the lact of heather odor at brewing. When I bottled, the floral aroma and taste were there! Really nice & delicate. Should make a nice Christmas gift to my sister and brother-in-law.
Here's the label:

5 cups fresh heather? Where are you getting that. I can purchase dried.

Thanks for posting the recipe.

that is cool! i'm reading Scotch Ale right now by Greg Noonan and it talks about the heather ales.....
thanks for sharing.

ScottT said:

5 cups fresh heather? Where are you getting that. I can purchase dried.

Thanks for posting the recipe.

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I got my fresh heather from a local florist. Their name is, Hopps Flowers.
I had them order me three sprigs. They were really big.

It grows wild in a wee place a few hours up north from here "Scotland"

orfy said:

It grows wild in a wee place a few hours up north from here "Scotland"

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It grows wild about five minutes drive from my house on the Moors in Lancs! I prefer to go up in early summer and pick wild blueberries off the lower slopes though.

I sampled a bottle of my Leann Fraoch last night. Bottled on the 6th, so it wasn't very carbonated yet.
WOW! It's really light and floral. The color is a deep copper, maybe with a slight pink/red hue... but that could be my imagination.
This is going to be really special. I'm going to need to brew another for summer.

I live in Strathaven, Scotland - they make Fraoch 5 minutes from my house thats sold in alot of places in Scotland.

I personally dislike it, though.