Along with Atlanta’s Sweetwater, Highland Brewing Company from Asheville, NC seems to be the regional microbrew of choice. They have a variety of styles, and seem to be in every grocery store I’ve been to in the area.  Just because something is popular, however, doesn’t mean that it’s good, and so I pulled Highland’s attempt at one of my favorite beer styles to find out if they were up to scratch.

The Cattail Peak Organic Wheat Beer is Highland’s summer seasonal.  A light gold in color, the label promises a hint of rye and hibiscus notes. I’ll be honest: most of the time when brewers put things on the label, they’re nowhere to be found in the beer, but the Cattail peak is an exception.  That’s not to say that the rye and hibiscus notes are prominent – they are indeed quite subtle – but they are definitely there, and definitely noticeable.  All in all, the highland is very well refined, with almost no bitterness, and a hint of sweetness that plays well with the rye notes. One thing it doesn’t have, refreshingly, is the mass-market taste of some other larger microbrews (Shiner, Sam Adams), which seem to have outgrown their ability to produce consistently good beer.

At the end of the day, Highland’s slogan says it all: just a wee bit different. That pretty well sums up their take on a wheat beer.  This is not a wit. It is not a hefeweizen. It is something completely different, but at the same time plenty enjoyable.

Score: 89