Ebulum Elderberry Black Ale - Williams Bros Brewing Co., Alloa

This was quite a rare beer for me. I've had beers that have been brewed with fruit flavors before, but most of those were essentially wheat or lighter beers. The Ebulum however, it's basically a stout... so this beer began life as a malty and roasted dark beer. Generally, when I drink a stout or dark beer I don't think to myself, "You know what this beer needs? Some fruit extract..." but I then I'm not Scottish. So here we have the Ebulumn Elderberry Black Ale from Scottland, a pitch black beer that smells like a coffee stout and promises an experience reminiscent of red wine. At least that's what the marketing on the bottle says, which to me is reminiscent of a load of bull... After drinking a pint of this beer I can say the comparison between this black ale and a glass of red wine is tangential at best. If you're not familiar with elderberries, the taste is tart and tannic. The elderberry tannens don't make it through the brewing process in any remarkable amount, I took me the petty part of a pint to pick up on them.

That being said, there is a little sweet fruitiness to this beer. That sweetness is in definite contrast to the malty body that seems to be screaming, "They told me a was going to be a stout..." The roasted malt really over powers the elderberry in this beer. Perhaps it's intended, but the way I look at is - if you're going to go through the trouble of brewing elderberries into your beer and market the finally product as an Elderberry Black Ale, then it should probably have a more noticeable tangy under all that dark roasted malt.

In the end, I drank the whole pint. I enjoyed this beer, it certainly felt like it was stronger than 6.5%... As a dark beer it has a lighter body but all the caramel maltiness you'd expect. And then there's the twist, the elderberries. They do add an interesting level to this black ale. Whether, or not it's worth putting on the label is another story. But, if you're a fan of darker beers and are jealous that wheat drinkers get to have all the fun with their fruit extracts - then you should try an Ebulum. It's a different take on fruit beer without going too far... or, far enough.