There Can Only Be One Highland Brewing Company

Having just finished my final fall semester of my undergraduate career, I felt it was time for a nice little vacation. A few friends of mine and I went down to Outer Banks, North Carolina for a few days since one of them has a house down there. Since I was far out of my usual area I decided it would be the perfect time to try and find some local beer that I couldn't find in the Northeast. We went out Sunday for lunch and football to a local bar/restaurant, which i expected to have a decent beer selection. Unfortunately, I was wrong, they had a very limited list of beers. Fortunately, they did have a few local options, so I went with the Highland Brewing Company's Gaelic Ale. Highland Brewing is located in Asheville, NC and while not within a short drive of where we were staying it was by far the closest option and one I have never seen any of back home. The waitress gave us our bottles as well as glasses to pour them into if we so chose to.

Courtesy of Highland Brewing Company

While I really wanted to drink straight from the bottle because I'm lazy, I felt it would be a great disservice to not pour it into a glass since it took me an extra 30 seconds.  As I expected it had a beautiful deep amber/brownish color. After pouring it into my glass I noticed very little head and even less lacing. What little head there was, was very light in color. There was a very nice slightly sweet aroma to it, which was rather surprising to me. Now for the most important aspect of the beer, the taste! On first sip I was very confused about what exactly I was tasting besides hops and malts.  After letting my taste buds adjust, I found it had a nice lightly sweet flavor similar to how it smelled when you first took a sip.  However, that was only how it opened and welcomed itself.  Once it hit your mouth for more than the initial moment the flavor changed. While not a dramatic or crazy change it does give a stronger hops and wheat taste.

All in all this is a solid beer. It may not be the best I've had, but it is far from the worst I've had.  I thoroughly enjoyed it while watching some decent football and would not mind having it again.

Kolsch-style is my style!

Last weekend, Nick and I took an adventure with some friends down to the Outer Banks of North Carolina. Leaving our beloved tri-state area, we figured this would be a great opportunity to try some local brews that would otherwise be unavailable back home.

A closeup - how pretty!

The 6 pack we picked up to try was Mother Earth Brewing’s Endless River Kölsch-Style Ale. (Side note: I learned that the classification of “Kölsch” is strictly reserved for only 20 or so breweries in Germany surrounding the town of Cologne, and therefore anything else must be designated as Kölsch-Style. Most Kölsch-style ales are actually mistaken for light lagers, as noted here).  This brewery was about 180 miles inland of us…sounds far, but seemed close enough to be considered regional to us. I was drawn to this beer by the artwork on the 6-pack and the bottles…it was just too artistic to pass up. (Nick: I couldn't agree more, I'm a sucker for beautiful artwork on the bottles. I will definitely try a beer based off of its packaging.)

Kölsch beers are typically light and easily drinkable – probably my favorite style of lighter beers because they’re crisp and have a bit of a bite to them on the finish. To me, this one did not disappoint; Nick might tell you otherwise. (Nick: While I do agree that there is a certain crisp flavor to it, I'm not enamored with it. It was a little too light for me and just seemed to be missing a little something. While not a terrible beer by any means, I would prefer something with a little more flavor to it.) 

When poured from the bottle, it has a soft golden color with a decent but quickly dissipating head and next-to-no lacing. There was quite a bit of carbonation to it, so I probably should have drank it a bit more quickly than I did so it wouldn’t go flat – woops! Definitely very drinkable, you could take this sucker down in a few gulps and be on to your next. (Nick: I can attest to that. I may have not that with the second one I had.) Aroma gives off a slightly grainy malt smell, a bit corn-bready. It also had some fruity-ness to it, perhaps some lemon and apple. If you’re not into this on a regular basis, I’d say it’s still an absolutely great choice as a summer beer.  (Nick: I definitely got a hint of some sweeter fruit flavors, but no cornbread smell for me. I would certainly add this to the summer beer rotation.)

From the brewer:

Super artsy-fartsy.

"A clear, crisp beer, Kölsch offers a very slight fruity flavor and aroma. It is light gold in color, with a delicate head. This light-bodied beer appeals to nearly everyone who samples it. Expect to enjoy a slight tang in the finish.

Food Pairings: Leafy Green Salad with Creamy Dressing, Broiled Lobster, Grilled or Steamed shrimp, Fried Soft Shell Crab, Peach Cobbler" (Which sucked for the two of us, having bought this after our delicious seafood dinner at The Black Pelican). The packaging had a sweet QR code to scan that told you all of this, instead of cluttering up the 6-pack with words. 

Happy drinking!

-Maggie (& Nick)