12 oz single from Hop City, Atlanta, GA, USA. Last time I drank this it was directly from the tank, at the brewery, on a trip to Asheville, NC back in April of this year. Obviously nothing could be fresher than THAT, but I'm curious to see how this is now. Color is very much like the label with yellow (rather than gold) being the order of the day. Definitely different to a typical macro lager that would give that golden color. Some chill haze is apparent. Head is small and not particularly...
Notes on beers brewed by
Highland Brewing
Highland Big Butte Smoked Porter
$4.99 for the 22 oz bomber from Asheville Wine Market on the Brewgrass trip. 2009 Highland Cup Winner, look out for this in the GABF Pro-Am competition. Poured into the Brewgrass sampler glass in small doses. Solid if unspectacular mahogany body with some nice lace left behind by the mocha head. Nose has some solid, caramel sugary notes but a lack of much that one would call smoky. Sweetness comes through the more you sniff it. Tastes are really quite significantly bitter but not in a really...
Highland The Shining Rock Lager
12 oz single from Green's on Ponce, Atlanta, GA, USA. $1.50. Superb color on the pour which I would describe as a deep burned orange color. Head is initially high but fades to not much. Lace is decent. If the head had lingered more I would have given this a 5 for appearance. Definitely a Bock beer - there's just no mistaking that rich, malty goodness, but this has some other interesting elements. Firstly there seems to be a slightly peppery, spicy note in the finish. At first I mistook this...
Highland Imperial Kashmir IPA
Shared with Dave and a few others at The Brick Store, Decatur, GA, USA. Standard DIPA pour from the bottle, with a good head, retention and lace. Body is a little murky. Good balance in the nose and taste with plenty of solid malt backbone to hold the aggressive hops together. Alcohol burns a little in the finish. Plenty of grapefruit. A standard good offering, but I'm getting a little tired of these bog-standard, non-subtle beers that need more attention to detail that is being hidden here by...
Highland Black Mocha Stout
22oz Bomber. Opaque black body excpet for the bottom half inch of the glass where there is a detectable ruby red highlight package. Head is large and frothy but disappointingly short lived and no lace is apparent. Medium body with very little carbonation. Definitely all dark roasted, chocolate malts but the nose is bigger than the taste. Slightly dry finish. Drinkability is above average for me in terms of the style. I enjoyed this, and it went down quite well.
Highland Kashmir IPA
Attractive colored label on the 12oz bottle. Very, very light golden color with some lager-like, high carbonation with fine lines of bubbles rising to add to the head. This is pretty persistent. The head is large and fluffy but not dense, and has a medium retention. A little (but not much) sticky lacing left behind. Aroma is a subdued, malt & hop balance, not much else there. Mild hop grapefruit bitterness with a soapy like taste. Lingering bitterness in the finish. Smooth with some malt...
Highland Tasgall Ale
22oz bomber, $4.99 Green's on Buford, Atlanta, GA, USA. If I had to describe this beer in simple terms, I would describe it as an alcoholic brown ale. Deep garnet pour with a nice initial head but this fades pretty quickly. No lacing. Very rich aroma of malty alcohol. A little burn in the mouth and on the way down, this exhibits a touch too much alcohol for me, but the rest of the beer and style appeal to me. Delicious, full mouthfeel and a super tasty experience.
Highland Gaelic Ale
One of the better examples of a style that I usually find rather uninteresting. The key here is a malt sweetness and a hop edge in balance. It's a pretty simple beer, but the gentle combination makes it a drinkable, if somewhat unspectacular brew. Good, dark copper color with some head and lacing. Mild carbonation. An above average mouthfeel. The simple combination gives a pleasing beer that is simple and easy to drink. Nothing really outstanding here, but a decent beer.
Highland St. Terese’s Pale Ale
Pale orange with some chill haze. Some small bubbles of carbonation keep rising to produce some half decent film and some patchy, but nice lacing. Sweet malts dominate initially, but this is followed quickly by some fruity bitterness. The fruity hops linger in a longer than usual finish and aftertaste. Some metallic aftertastes that were not unpleasant. A crisp, bright, clean feel about the beer. Nice for a pedestrian style, but it is drinkable and a nice, if simple example.
Highland Cold Mountain Winter Ale
=== Updated Review 11/07 === 2007 Vintage. Bought this at GSO Wine Warehouse on a recent trip to Greensboro, NC, USA. $4.49 for the 22 oz bottle, purchased on the day of release. I resisted the temptation to buy the larger, flip top growler type bottle since I remembered not being that impressed with this beer the first time around in 2005 (last year I didn't buy it at all). I was surprised to read my review form 2005 and see that it almost EXACTLY applies to this vintage. It's a decent beer,...
Highland Oatmeal Porter
Disappointed. The body had a lot of red highlights and was quite transparent around the edges - I like to see a fuller body. It was poured for me with virtually no head, so subsequently there was no lacing, but I am sure this beer, if poured correctly, can look much better than it did on this ocassion. Distinct lack of aroma, again probably due to the ridiculously cold serving temperature. Quite a thin mouthfeel, without any coating on the tongue or teeth. The taste? Well it went from a...