Welcome to the Main House of Vortigern Aedui.:
The beers you see above are not actually all beers. "Beer" is actually the product of when hops are used in the brewing process, and were not used in brewing until the 18th century when they were first introduced. Before that, it was all simply ale, in which anything and everything was thrown into the brew, including flowers, plants, and animal parts.
The beers above come from all over Celtic Europe. The first one, the Lia Fail, or Stone of Destiny, comes from Scotland and brewed by
Inveralmond brewery. It is said that the Tuatha de danaan first brought the stone to Ireland during the Beltaine invasion. It was on this stone that kings were crowned, and only the stone knew who the rightful king was. It was stolen from the hill of Tara, taken to Edinburgh, stolen again and taken to Perthshire by Edward the first. The beer itself was pretty good. It had a nice almond flavor, with a taste of chocolate malts. I thought it might be stronger with the amount of yeast in it, but it was actually pretty mild.
The next four are my favorite.
The native ales of Scotland are definitely the sweetest of all the beers. I had the Gozberry ale first, and while I thought that the fruit might overpower the ale, it was very subtle. The next was the Elderberry. According to the website, it was introduced the the Cruithni in the 9th century by a Welsh druid. Being a strong beer, it was passed among the elders as they got drunk and complained about the world. It was pretty good, and strong. I could definitely taste a hint of chocolate in it.
The Fraoch is definitely my favorite. Apparently it is a 4000 year old recipe of when the ancient people of Scotland used nearby plants and flowers to drink and get out of mind. Such a sweet ale, it is my favoite beer of all.
The Aba was alright. It was the strongest and the strangest as it was brewed with pine and spruce branches. At 7.5% ABV, it wasn't that strong and actually incredibly smooth. The pine was extreemly light, and not too overpowering. Not my favorite of the giftpack, but still very good.
Finally, the De Graal was incredibly good, very strong, and I can't really remember much of that beer. I think I actually found the Holy Grail when I drank that one, or at least learned a valuable life lesson.
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