The history of the heather drink is more than three thousand years old. According to legend, its secret was lost when the Scots exterminated the tribes of the Picts, who mastered the art of making this drink.
The history of heather honey
In the historical sources of the eighth century A. D. There are references to heather ale or heather honey as a favorite drink of the Scots, which suggests that this people adopted the tradition of making a drink from the Picts, with whom the Scots had a strong and strong alliance. The beautiful legend outlined by Robert Stevenson in his ballad does not have too many historical facts under it.
Formally, the secret of making the drink was lost after the conquest of Scotland by England. National customs and traditions of this land were banned, and ale was only allowed to be brewed from malt and hops, so the wonderful heather ale was officially forgotten. However, in the mountainous regions, which are the historical homeland of the Picts, who were the authors of this drink, the Scots most likely continued to brew heather ale in secret from the British.
Heather ale today
For hundreds of years, the secret of heather honey was officially lost, until in 1986 a certain Bruce Williams discovered an old family recipe. It turned out that in ancient times, a special ale malt was used to make this drink, which was boiled with the tops of heather branches until the wort was obtained, after which a fresh heather color was added to the resulting mixture. Then this mass was fermented for another ten to twelve days. The fermentation process made the heather dark, and the resulting drink was distinguished by a deep amber color, a very mild pronounced taste and a dense, viscous, even oily texture, which made it look like honey.
Reviving the tradition of brewing heather ale has proven to be a heroic effort. Bruce Williams did his research privately, experimenting persistently with the timing of the collection of heather flowers and the methods of processing plants. He spent several years on his experiments. For example, in the course of his research, it turned out that the very tops of heather twigs can be used to make the best ale, since moss lives on the main part of them, which gives a narcotic effect. Perhaps this is what explains the euphoric effect of the drink on the unusual Scots.
Heather Ale has been produced commercially since 2000 by Heather Ale Ltd. So we can say that the tradition of making heather honey has found a second life. Anyone can taste this wonderful drink by purchasing the company's products.
