So I was rooting around the shelves at the local liquor store last year for Burns Night and I came across a bottle of Scottish Heather Beer. The stuff was named "froeich" I believe.

Since I'm a MacNaughton, and our motto is "froeich eilean!' I had to buy it. It was pretty good.


Dan the Brewer from Devils Canyon Brewery says that sure, you can brew with heather instead of hops. Why, that's going way, way back in history to the beginnings of beer making, if you do that. He also says that some of the new recipes might not work as well with heather instead of hops. Anyway he was keen to try it with the Nor Cal Rabble sometime. I just haven't pursued the matter.

Has anybody here tried making beer with heather tops instead of hops?