Highland Kashmir IPA

Brewed by Highland Brewing Company
Style: India Pale Ale (IPA)
Asheville, North Carolina USA

Hazy golden orange color with a thick head. Orange grapefruit and pine aroma. Leaves good lace. Very bitter hoppines but also a good sweet balance.

Growing up, my family would take a week or so off each summer and go on a vacation to Highlands, North Carolina. So, when I was gifted with 5 different beers from Highland Brewing Company, my first curiosity was if it had been brewed in my vacation town of yore. They aren’t, but that doesn’t mean I can’t relish for a few moments in the pleasant memories of my youth, even if they are sepia-hued, unlike the glorious IPA sitting before me. City of origin aside, if the Kashmir IPA from Highland Brewing Company performs as well as her brethren before her, I am in for another delightful experience.

The Kashmir IPA descended from her bottled confines a hazy juicy orange, glinting and glimmering in the light piercing through her body. Only a tiny head rises to greet me, choosing instead to linger as scattered clumps of bubbles floating freely upon her depths. While not as imposing of a head as I would like, maybe it was her desire to not interfere with the opulent nose which is already wooing me with oranges, nectarines, peaches mingling perfectly with woodsy and leathery notes, finishing with asparagus and other vegetal esters. A rather complex and interesting nose, I wonder if she tastes as she smells so I waste no time delving into my glass. Crisp and bright with a surprisingly balanced medium-bodied body and mouthfeel, the Kashmir IPA is more astringent with a taste and feeling of vegetation and stringy asparagus while a pleasing bitterness tingles on the top of my tongue. As sweet as her nose was, her palate is a totally different story. A growing bitterness doesn’t linger long into the aftertaste, choosing instead to grab your immediate attention. More grass, broccoli, asparagus, and orange skin permeate her palate and intrigue my senses. The Kashmir IPA is definitely one of the more uniquely grassy and vegetal IPAs I have ever quaffed. As I near the end of my glass, a bit of frothiness allows the nectarines and orange to play a bit more with my tastebuds before more crunchy green veggies and grass round her out.

I really enjoyed this IPA from the Highland Brewing Company for her intriguing and different nature. Having tasted so many wet, sappy, and sticky sweet IPAs I relished the chance to taste one of her more astringent and vegetal cousins. The Kashmir IPA is an easy recommend on my behalf, especially for anyone looking for something just a little bit different than the ordinary.

Clear, and slight hint of orange in color. This beer has a decent, but thin head sitting on top of it. Not bad looking, but I have seen better. Bigger malt aroma than I thought it would be. Pick up on a slight hop aroma, but this aroma is just too weak. Very nice hop bitterness. It is also especially creamy. Not a bad palate. I like the bittering hop, it takes a second but lingers after you have taken your sip, or gulp. Nice fruity citrus/grapefruit taste. I must admit, pretty damn good taste, but a little muted, if you ask me.

Taste 2/9 Bottle. Looks: Clear orange body with a thin white top. Aroma: Weak for the style. Some citrus hops. Taste: Hops spice, floral and citrus. Low weight from too little malt. Not bad, nothing special.

bottle. Pours cloudy orange/amber with white head. Aroma is fruity (grapefruit) hops with nice caramel malt notes. Taste malty / caramel, hops with grapefruit / citrus hops with light piny mouthfeel. Overall mouthfeel is sweet and smooth finish is a mix of caramel and grapefruit with light bitterness.

Hazy murky beige. Somewhat earthy aroma. Very earthy palate, chewy with canned mushrooms and oxidized hops. Hrm, not sure I like this.

Pours a deep orange color with a medium, foamy white head that settles to a thin film. Sheets of lacing surround the glass. The aroma shows a good malt base of toasted caramel and nougat along with some orange and grapefruit hops in the background. The flavor shows the same with the caramel, biscuit, and orange and grapefruit hops to add bitterness. Not a ton of hops, but just a good flavor. Medium bodied and good bitterness on the backend. I really enjoyed this one.

Draught @ Flying Saucer, Columbia SC. Murky orange. Earthy hop nose. Thick, almost granular mouthfeel. Earthy and past prime or dregsy-tasting. Tastes and smells metallic. as if oxidized. Will re-rate.