Highland St. Tereses Pale Ale

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

Cloudy light amber colour. Dull earthy aroma. Light body for style, with hints of caramel and toffee. There are some fresh fruity notes to keep things at least a little bit lively but this beer is pretty bland.

draft. medium body, moderate citrus hop. just the right i.b.u. for a pale ale. good head lacing with soft carbonation. represents top 10 percentile of the category.

Aroma of grapefruit and pine over sweet malt; a touch of pepper to boot. Appears a clear golden color with little to no head. Flavor is bland, slightly sweet, ever so slightly hoppy. Palate is thin and watery and definitely detracts. Overall, this beer is slightly less than the sum of its parts, and somewhat disappointing.

Bottle. It pours a golden orange with white head. The aroma is crisp citrus and hops. Flavors of lightly toasted malt, hops, and a slightly oaken finish. Not bad, not bad at all.

Bottle acquired in trade with Johnathan3584 (thanks!). Poured a dark and hazy golden color with an averaged sized white head. I had a harder time really picking anything out on this one. Aroma had a cardboard quality to it with some citrus. Tastes of watered down oranges and citrus. Watery and thin body. Light lacing left on the glass.

Bottle courtesy of Suttree: Translucent pale amber with a quickly fading white head. The aroma is light apple, pear, grass, wet leaves, bready malt, biscuit, and just a hint of stale cardboard. The taste is cardboard, grass, grapefruit, orange, plant stalk, salt, biscuit, bread, and light malts. Light-medium bodied, medium carbonation that feels lively towards the middle, watery mouthfeel at times.

bottle. There really isn’t a good deal of tasty brew in my hometown and this is one of the few acceptable ales I frequent. St. Terese’s pours a semi-cloudy gold with a tall head. It has a good backbone for an APA, plenty of caramel, some grapefruit. The flavor is decent: semi-sweet, moderately hoppy. My single complaint is the modest presence of skunk in the brew. It taints an otherwise clean, enjoyable session APA. I think I’m not alone in recommending Highland’s darker ales instead.
[Sept. 2, 2007]
I felt the need to crack this one open yet again. I had a good experience this time. Everything is very clean and crisp. I like the presence of grapefruit and lemon zest in the flavor, but I just need more. Great balance of caramel and acidic citrus notes, but I would like just a notch up. Still, it’s a good drinkable APA.
[November 29, 2009]
Bottle. Let me tell you something: The Highland mixed 12 pack was a much welcome addition to Food City. I like all the ales in this box. Strange how solid Highland’s core lineup of beer is. Anyway, St. Terese’s is no exception. It is not outstanding, but it is clean, consistent and tasty. The pour is cloudy amber with a ring of a head. Smells pretty good with just a little grapefruit bite and hints at wood and caramel. The mouthfeel is medium with light flavors of wheat bread, some citrus, and a biscuity finish. I’d like more hops, honestly, even from a pale ale. But this gets the job done. It’s a light, clean, sessionable ale. I think it’s very cool Highland decide to use American hops rather going the route of a British pale ale. I’ll be back.

I guess I got a good one. Slow fading, sudsy white head with a clear, deep golden body. Nice grapefruit and sweet orange aroma with light sweet malt notes. Flavor comes across fairly dry with good American hop characters of citrus, dry leaves, and pine needles. Medium bitter finish. Medium, semi-dry body with substantial carbonation. This is a very solid American pale ale, one of the best new (to me) pale ales of the summer. Better than the Mirror Pond that chased it. Thanks Jay.