This beer pretty much completes my collection of Highlands Year Round beers. I am missing the Black Mocha Stout but I doubt that one would be hard to find. I have seen this brewery all around and who knows, maybe I will check the out when I get to Asheville...
Highland Oatmeal Porter was born out of the failed attempts by the Asheville-based brewery in North Carolina to create a lager as a companion for its flagship Gaelic Ale. Founder Oscar Wong and brewmaster John Lyda had already dumped three consecutive batches of lager that did not live up tho their standards. The pair agreed that Highland Brewing, which released its first beer at the end of 1994 from a brewhouse that was using reconfgigured dairy equpiment, just could not afford to dump a fourth batch of lager. Instead, the base lager was blended with roasted grains and oatmeal. A new beer was born, and it quickly became a favorite.
The Oatmeal Porter was a deep dark brown color, though it appeared amber when you put it up to the light with a well formed brown head. It carried a big roasty nose with some chocolate notes. Based on the descriptions and history of the creation of this beer, I was not expecting something so robust. Not saying it is a bad thing but I just thought it would be a pretty mellow beer. A little hop bite and quite a bit of dark malt character came through. A very surprising beer. Not many North Carolina beers made the list, but this one can hang with the selection that did make it in.
950 Bottles Of Beer To Go!
Cheers!
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