Highland Cold Mountain Winter Ale

Brewed by Highland Brewing Company
Style: Spice/Herb/Vegetable
Asheville, North Carolina USA

At barleys tap room on draught, this 2006 edition poured w/ a thin white head. Looks like the Gaelic Ale in color. Smells of sweet artificial flavor. Almost like a cream sicle in taste. Sweet, colying, finishes wet. Would expect more out of highland. Sorry.

Dark amber/brown. Small tan top. Toasty, cookie malt, vanilla, marshmallows, subtle hops. Medium/full body, smooth. Easy drinking. Solid, tasty brew.

22 oz bottle, thanks to OhioDad! Pours clear deep cherry brown color with a large beige head. Rich dark fruity malts anchor the aroma, with coffee, molasses, spice, apple juice and nutmeg present as well. Roasty bitter-sweet flavor, with prunes, coffee, bitter spices, candied fruity and an astringent finish. Medium to full body and gentle carbonation. Definitely an interesting beer.

From notes 1/1/04: 1-liter wax-enveloped Grolsch-type stopper bottle. Pours a deep ruby red color with plenty of mahogany tones to it. A large tan head formed easily with a rough pour and reduced after quite some time to a thin collar of foam around the edges with a murky Rorschact test of froth floating in the middle of the beer. Laces well with ample patterns of bubbles and froth inside my glass. Aromas were HUGE and heavenly! Spicy and warming. A solid toasty malt scent drizzled with cinnamon, nutmeg, and caramel. Smells like a dandy. The flavor also was out of this world. Big malts (more toasty with a touch of roastiness) and a lifetime supply of cinnamon, nutmeg, brown sugar, caramel...along with the sweet airy flavors of fruity meltaways. A hint of bubblegum in the background, with a rush of fresh cotton candy (pink, not blue). A faint breeze of hoppiness softly dances across the palate. Holy schnikies this was a New Year’s Eve treat with dinner! Solid mouthfeel. If only the ABV could legally be higher so we could really see how big they could make this beer... Absolutely drinkable. Outstanding. Sad that the liter bottle I shared with the neighbor disappeared so quickly. Tempted to nab another liter from my stash, but there were more beers to drink that night.

Found this old rating while packing today. Black color with ruby highlights. Little to no light tan-ish head. a decent amount of hops in this brew, with some butterscotch and toffee flavors. Some dark fruits and a strong nutty overtone. creamy mouthfeel despite the soda-y carbonation. interesting fo sho

Brown colored liquid with a bubbly light taupe color. As a group there were many descriptors thrown about when it came to the aroma. Rubber ducks, baby powder, fresh diapers, vanilla pudding, just to name a few and I don’t think any were discounted. There does seem to reside a touch of caramel, but one does seem to have to search for it. Flavors of some anise and spice cookies. Blue moon ice cream as well. An interesting holiday ale. I didn’t mind it, but there are some odd nose and taste things going on.

22oz bomber-thanks to Aracauna for sending me this months ago. ruby red hue with a soaphy off-white head. sweet, lightly floral hop note with nice spices-cinnamon and nutmeg come to mind. some berry notes come out as well as earthy hops, caramel and toasted malt. lots of spice on the flavors along with some toasted malt notes. some resembelence of a ginger bread cookie! body verges on flimsy, but does a good job distributing the flavors around. Finish is heavily spicy and tingles the toungue. not a bad and unique beer.

Thanks to tannertavernboys for sharing. Pours a dark garnet with a minor amount of head. The aroma is spicy with cinnamon and maybe something else. There is also a rich carny sugar aspect that is present, but not overbearing. The beer is medium bodied with light carbonation - could be due to a bit of aging. Interesting taste to the beer, very unique. There are elements of cherry pie filling, but quite dry - bits of caramel - spiciness (cinnamon, ginger, others?). The finish has some hops to it, they have an dusty / earthy taste to them. An interesting beer I’d like to try again.