Highland Gaelic Ale

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

Sampled at world beer festival. pours deep copper with a decent sized off-white head. Aroma of hops, sweetmalts, and some grassy notes. Flavor is smooth, sweet maltiness, citrus, and nuts with a slight bitter ending. Good body, good brew.

Clear amber color with a medium, lasting white head. Hops are clearly evident in the aroma, grassy and metallic at the same time. Flavor has a nice bitterness, but lacks any distinctive malt charecter. Not unplesant to drink, but I’m not sure what they were going for here. It’s not quite an APA, but not exactly an amber ale.... well... what the hell is an amber ale anyway?

Copper color with just a hint of red. Taller aged paper colored head. Rather typical amber aroma, with some caramel, toffee, and mild herbs. Very nutty in flavor with some hazelnuts and dry roasted peanuts. A mild acidic flair throughout. Very dry in the finish. Nearly no linger. I seem to catch the willamette, but not the cascade hops. Granted the hops schedule in this one is not one that would make of break it. As I’ve said before, just another amber, and I’m bored to pieces by ambers.

Pretty pour to a translucent amber-rose color, with a big tan ice sheaf on top and a creamy doily rung around the edges. Aroma promises with sweet maple dinner rolls, gentle grass, cherry toffee chews, brown sugar, cinnamon coffee cake and a touch of red hot licorice. Somewhat shearing acidity strikes the flavor chords with a curt caramel vibe. Aluminum steel twang with a wholesome whole wheat meets sourdough complex. Bran flakes and a lick of hickory twigs stored in wet, rusty herbicide tins. Harsh palate opposition, effervescent and twanging at the back. When I think of balance, I think of something’s that just not right - maybe it’s the ill-advised alpha acid hop breach and the over boiled caramel malt. Finish winds down to whole wheat bread covering milky toffee chews and piney brazil nuts. Uninspiring.

Bottle. Pours amber with white head. Faint aroma of cascade hops and malt. Flavor has some toastiness , along with a flavor of carmelized sugar and fruity hops. Nice spicy bitter finish. This is a very solid amber. One better beers from Highland.

splotchy lacing. off-white creamy head. deep, ruddy color. high carbonation. smells sweet and fruity, like oranges. tastes of orange, light hops and lemon. Has a "far away" aftertaste.

Not a big fan of amber ales and this did little to change that. Hazy copper/amber color with a thick white head. Sweet nose, some pine, caramel, straw. Some creaminess in the mouth, medium body. The flavor was rather unimpressive.

Light to medium red color with a thin tan head. Heavy hoppy aroma. Light yet robust taste with light to medium hop sweetness.