The Tasgall Ale was the second beer that Ben et al. from SevenPack.net sent over from the Highland Brewing Company (the first was the oatmeal porter).Situated in Asheville, Highland is a mountain brewery, producing about 6500 barrels a year. They've been around since 1994, and still bottle their 22 oz. beers by hand. Looks like business for Highland has been good--they are now contract brewing in Maryland with Wild Goose Brewery (once Frederick Brewing Company, now under the ownership of Flying Dog).
Brewery: Highland Brewing Company
Brewery Location: Asheville (western North Carolina)
Beer: Tasgall Ale
BJCP Style: 9E. Strong Scotch Ale
Serving: Bottle
Appearance: dark maple, with a beautiful caramel latte head
Smell: chocolate and hops in nos, a warm malty roast character; overall, reminiscent of frothy hot chocolate
Taste: creamy mouthfeel, not as malty as aroma would suggest; I had trouble pulling out individual flavors--not the pronounced malt bite, hops, or peat that I had expected (although, as it warms, some of these flavors start to peek out), but smooth, smooth, smooth and very drinkable--probably too drinkable for the 8% ABV
Mouthfeel: full, creamy
Drinkability: easy to drink (too easy, given ABV?); it's probably more of a porter than a scotch ale, but this beer goes down so easily, it's hard to quibble with; along with the Endo IPA and the Duck-Rabbit Wee Heavy, one of my favorites from the group of NC beer
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2 comments:
Damn, you got some good trades by the look of it.
Nice review. I appreciate seeing good effort put forth toward enhancing the overall appreciation of great beer. I haven't seen this beer before, but you make me want to find it. Well done.
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