Highland Black Mountain Bitter

Brewed by Highland Brewing Company
Style: English Pale Ale
Asheville, North Carolina USA

Bottle thanks to SpringsLicker. Light yellow golden orange with a thin white head. Nice grassy hop aroma, some caramel and pale malt fruitiness, apples. Taste is more hay, grassy, spicy hops, apple, and pale malts.

Bottle from ROBORB. Thanks man! Pours golden with a medium lived whitish head. Smell is fresh with earthy, grassy hops. Taste is very smooth, clean and simple, but with no off flavors. Earthy, moderately hoppy, and just enough body to keep it satisfying. Some fruitiness and very light yeast to it too. Normal carbonation and nicely dry overall. Very sessionable and its about time I found something today I actually want to finish.

Bonus bottle from emacgee. Pours a bright shade of copper with fleeting off-white head. Looks a bit like apple juice. Smells almost like a tripel, and tastes like a pilsner. Features grass, orange peel, and grain. Seems unfocused.

12 oz. Clear, burnt orange with a small but persistent creamy head above. Aromas of skunk, dry grain and orange-grapefruit. Flavor starts with plastic orange and cereal grain blend, finishes with some resin, grass, and woody bitterness blending with the other flavors. Nice lacing left behind. Light-medium body is smoothly carbonated, astringent after a bit, and lightly tongue-tingly.

Taste 2/9 Bottle. Looks: Clear golden body with a thin top. Aroma: Mild yeast must and a mild sweetness from the malt. Taste: Nice pepper spice and must. A little hint of lemon. A nice mild/english ale. Session worthy.

Looks like a lager to me. Organic huh? I haven’t had a very pleasing organic experience yet. This beer does have a nice thin head sitting on top, but again it looks like a cheap pale lager. Cheap smell, a little corn lager aroma on this one. A little hop aroma comes through, but I wouldn’t say that it is enough to call this a pale ale. Also, a slight malt aroma, but nothing I would say that pops out at me. Decent mouthfeel. The hop taste does come through. Completely misguided by the aroma. Nice pilsner type bitterness. This beer is surprisingly decent. Not much of a malt presence, but quite an interesting bitter characteristic. Also, the palate is surprisingly decent as well. It is fairly smooth for a beer expected to taste like Natty.

Bottle from Food City. Weird. Anyway, this is a rather clear light gold hue with just a small head. I’m not too fond of the aroma on this one. It’s a little dirty, almost skunky like a lager in a green bottle. I get hints at corn and some generic woody hops. I get the feeling this is another sub par seasonal offering from Highland. I greatly enjoy the regular Highland lineup, what in Sam hell is going on lately? bah. The flavor. Really European. The finish is husky and dry, but the flavor never really achieves heavy bitterness. Metallic twangs pop in and out and I get hints at apple and bread. I like the amount of hop flavor on this one, just not the actual flavors imparted by the hops. The verdict: another British styled beer pissing me off.

Gold pour with creamy white head and lace. Corn on the nose. Medium malt with a strong presence of sweet corn. Good carbonation but just a tad thin and watery. Pretty decent bitter clean and crisp. Not really special but good.