January 21st, 2007 by Andy
Not long ago, I had the opportunity to venture to beautiful Asheville, NC where I happened upon mixed case of the Highland Brewing company’s beers. Of course, you may remember that in April of 2005, I reviewed the Tasgall Ale and henceforth declared that the Tasgall “is a unique beer that has me excited to taste others from this company.” So it should be of no surprise that I eagerly bought the mixed case (which didn’t include the Tasgall, unfortunately) and trucked the whole lot home.
Highland’s Gaelic Ale pours with a reddish hue and has a light head that slowly dissipates to reveal a wonderfully sweet malty nose with hop hints. The Gaelic imparts a well balanced clean malt taste that has hints of hops and a pleasant clean finish. I noted that there are few bubbles in the body and I was particularly impressed with the slick finish of this beer; however, I will say that this particular beer lacks the distinctiveness of their Tasgall. That’s not to say this isn’t a beer worthy of a snob’s notice, it’s just that this isn’t something you’ll find yourself asking for if there is, say, a Liberty Ale on tap.
All in all, this is a good showing for Highland, but if one’s bar is set by the Tasgall, then you’ll understand why the Gaelic falls a bit short.
