Mike Loves Beer

Name – Highland Kashmir IPA
Country – United States
Type – American IPA

Appearance – Poured a very cloudy pale gold color with a big white head.  It sticks around a bit and does leave some lacing on the glass.

Smell – The nose is interesting.  It’s grassy and floral like with the hops but with some citrus notes.  There is a sweet smell as well that I just can’t quite place.

Taste – Bitterness from the hops up front that are floral in natural are quickly met with a sweetness that is a little like bubble gum and toffee.  There are some other citrus and grassy notes through out.

I was recommended this one by Eric who was a regular at the Coffee District until he recently moved to Georgia.  I told him I haven’t been a fan of other stuff from Highland but he said I had to try this one.  My first couple sips I really didn’t care for all that much but then all of a sudden I did like it.  It was refreshing and something a little different from most IPAs.  The sweetness I think is what threw me off a bit but I ended up embracing it.  Nice pick Eric.

Overall Grade – B+

Name – Highland Oatmeal Porter
Country – United States
Type – American Porter

Appearance – Poured a dark brown with some red hues around the edges of the glass.  A nice white head but was gone rather quickly.

Smell – The smell was really hard to pick up.  All the scents were very minimal.  There was a slight milk chocolate smell with some roasted notes but again they were really hard to get.  Some might find other smells in there.  I didn’t

Taste – Very light on the body and little sweet chocolate taste and a small roasted background to it.  Nothing intense but also not that stood out.

I had Highland’s Gaelic Ale at a pub beer and wasn’t impressed at all with it.  But I spotted this one on the shelf and thought I’d give it a try.  I was quite a deal disappointed.  I didn’t get much in the way of smell or flavor with it.  After trying it I read some reviews on how some people loved it and it has a nice bold taste.  I just didn’t get that in either bottle I had.  Unless the whole batch was bad I just can’t see it.

Overall Grade – D