Highland Imperial Kashmir India Pale Ale

Formerly brewed at Highland Brewing Company
Style: Imperial/Double IPA
Asheville, North Carolina USA

Vintage 2007. 22oz bottle. Aroma of an aged IIPA. Amazing due to this being a New beer. Deep copper color. Flavor of a musty, aged, IIPA. Big malt character. Lots of malt. Lots of malt character! Munich malts?? I love this beer! Sweet and super citrus hop. Tastes like its a 4 years old Dreadnaught. LOVE IT!

Shared by Doughboy at Steve’s, what a treat! Poured rather hazy coppery orange from bomber. Aroma of sweet caramels, grapefruits, pine resins. Full bodied, full on pine resin with a strong grapefruit and hop character. The beer is exceptionally smooth and begs to be drank, over and over etc. I would love to try it on tap, what a kick ass beer from NC!! Thanks Ed!

22oz Bomber I was lucky enough to get this bottle in a trade from RustyDiamond, thanks Rusty. Imperial Kashmir enters the glass a hazy apricot with a few streams of large carbonation rising to the surface. A good looking finger and a half head of pure whiteness that eventually falls to a skimming and leaves some streaks of lacing on its way down. The aroma on this beer is utterly unique. Things are a little faint at first but if you stick with it crazy notes of ground spruce needles and mandarin oranges jump out at you. There’s something else in there, and although I can’t put my finger on it, it fits flawlessly. A touch of alcohol spiciness finishes things off. This beer is delicious! The flavor shows more pine needles than the aroma would suggest. Big and pungent (in a good way). The crazy citrus involved wafts through the pine until the finish. There’s some rich caramel maltiness that shows up and fortifies the hoppiness on the backend. The swallow leaves a nice tounge tingling bitterness. You couldn’t ask for a much better mouthfeel on a IIPA. Velvety and smooth. I run into far too many that are sweet and sticky. This walks the line perfectly. For such a high abv this beer drink far too easily. I’m crazy about the unique hoppiness (tangarine and mandarin oranges) and the pine bitterness. Truth be told I thought this would be a good IIPA but it turns out it’s an outstanding IIPA. I’m going to have to try and get my hands on a few more of these. The unique flavors work wonders in the mouth. 1/19/08

Bonus bomber from the generous NachlamSie. Thanks! Nice bottle cap of a Scottish dude with bagpipes...keeper. Pours with a small head of small bubbles that fades to an awesome microbubble veil on the surface. Amber color becomes cloudy only after I pour the yeast goodies in from the bottom of the bottle. Nice hoppy aroma. Sweet and delicious with the alchohol well hidden. Hop bitterness is mild and hop aroma is above average. The hops used are really wonderful. Not so much west coast grapefruit hops, but a little different fruit. What’s with all of these sad 3.5 faces? I thought it was very good! 4.1!

Bomber from Bruisin’ Ales. Pours a deep luscious sunset orange with dense but small slightly off-white head. Nose is a melange of great hop characters: citrusy, piney, resiny, funky. Graham cracker malt scent resides beneath. Full and initially sweet on the palate, before a melon-like tropical hop flavor comes forward, shifting into a spruce sweet bitterness and then finally lingering tangerine in the finish. Bready caramel malts add a touch of balance without getting in the way of the hops. Considering the amount of hops used, the beer isn’t overwhelmingly bitter like some Double IPAs, focusing more on aroma. A definite treat, in my opinion.

Bottle: Deep caramel, large foamy off-white head, sticky lacing.   Looks great!   Caramel malts, slight hop, sweet citrus peel on the nose.   Smells very familiar... oddly similar to Dicks Bottleworks IPA.   Oh man, quite thick and viscous on the tongue, but not cloying.   Getting a good malt base, seems to be caramel malts, along with sweetened citrus peel, tobacco leaves, and a slight floral hop presense.   Yeah, this one really brings me back to a Dicks Bottleworks IPA I had about two months ago.   I love this style of IIPA, good and thick, not overly bitter, with a good sweetness to counteract the bitterness.   In my opinion, totally balanced.   I spoze its almost nearing Barleywine territory with its maltiness.   Body and mouthfeel are, you guessed it, fairly full.   Clean, flavorful, and well balanced.   Glad that Tom, OldGrowth, sent me a few of these.   Thanks Tom, this is good stuff!   Oh, and the 10.2% ABV isn’t really noticeable.   It packs a punch, but is neither very hot or alcholic.   A sleeper IIPA for sure.   Beats the piss out of most of the hop dominated IIPAs that are out there.   Long live the malt!!!

I paid $10 for this bomber, it better be good. The beer is a hazy dark tan color, smallish head. The aroma is detectable from accross the room. It has a fruitier aroma, more like apricot or mango as opposed to the citrus you expect. Very pleasant though, top marks on aroma. The taste is fantastic as well. Very bitter and hoppy, but balanced enough. Has that elusive almost shockingly hoppy quality I love in a big DIPA. This is one of the best beers I’ve every had, I’m definately enjoying this one. I’d say its way underrated, definately blows away the 90 minute and many other rated higher.

Appearance: Pours a rich, clear dark amber body with a lush, creamy off-white head. Smell: Pungent, redolent aroma of resinous pine and fresh-smelling citrus fruits. Plenty of caramel malt ready to balance things out, though. As the beer warms and is allowed the breath, the alcohol really begins to perk up, as does a bright spice character. Taste: The hops do not wait for the caramel flavor and sweetness to dissipate, right away you get smacked with the fruity citrus, pine needles, and all the bitterness help within. A distinct spiciness continues to build throughout. The hops and bitterness hold on relentlessly into the aftertaste. Mouthfeel: Hmm, I’d place it at the high-end of medium-bodied. Medium carbonation. Rich, luscious mouthfeel. Drinkability: Quite nice. I look forward to seeing how this one ages and whether or not Highland will continue this trend of releasing an imperialized version of their current beer line. An Imperial Black Mocha Stout might be nice.