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

Any way you want to slice it, moving doesn’t have a lot to offer.  One bright spot, however, is a whole new range of micro-brewed beers to discover. Since I’m new to town, I went to my local grocery to see what the situation was. A choose-your-own-six pack later, I was in business.

Or so I thought.

The odd ball out of the group was Magic Hat’s summer seasonal “Whacko”. I’ll be the first to admit that I like strange stuff, but Whacko manages to be strange while at the same time being not terribly enjoyable. I probably could have guessed that from the description of “beer with beet juice color” on the label. All things considered, that’s not the worst way to describe this beer. It’s faintly sweet, with a vegetal bitterness that doesn’t seem to come from a hop character at all. I’ll give them points for trying to do something creative, but somehow the concept seems flawed – and the execution can’t overcome the rest of the package.

You get the feeling drinking this beer that the guys at Magic Hat probably can make some good beer – this just isn’t one I’ll be buying twice.

Score: 82

For those who don’t know, Saint Arnold’s Divine Reserve is the Holy Grail of Texas Beer.  Produced in extremely small runs (1,500 cases) and commanding a whopping $15 per six-pack, Divine Reserve generally sells out within an hour of hitting the shelves.  Due to some shoddy supply chain management, local shipments didn’t arrive until yesterday, and despite my (not) important position as a self-styled reviewer, I didn’t get any. Luckily, I have friends (and a sister) who were more fortunate than I, and after some bribery and veiled threats, I was able to secure a couple of bottles for review.

First the basics: Divine Reserves have never been anywhere close to light. Clocking in as usual with over 9% abv and with a tremendously full body, this is not a beer to chug, but rather to savor.

Divine Reserve’s distinct caramel, opaque color tells you right away that this is not a simple beer. Strong aromas of smoke and sweetness greet you before you taste the malty toffee notes. While some might say the smoky flavor is a bit too much, I think it brings images of barley malted over peat fires with a rich, earthy character. Surprisingly smooth for a beer with so much body, flavor and alcohol, DR 8 is almost syrupy, coating your mouth with a rich creaminess.

One of the wonderful things about each iteration of Divine Reserve is its perfect balance.  Often strong beers have an overload of a single element, such that all you can taste is hop, or alcohol, or malt. The beauty of such a limited run is that, as usual, the guys at Saint Arnold’s have nailed it right on.  There is nothing out of balance, nothing too brash. Flavors blend together, bubble up to the surface, mingle for a while, and then give way to new experiences rising up from the bottom of your palate.

The bad news, of course, is that Divine Reserve 8 is no longer available in stores.  There appear to be 3 bottles on eBay, but who knows about that. Every time Divine Reserve comes out, I feel as though I’ve been given a beer revelation. It’s not just good beer – it’s what good beer can be.

Score: 94

I’ve seen this beer around the last few falls and have always wanted to try it, mostly just for grins. I finally broke down and picked up a pack while we were at Central Market.  If you’ve ever had a beer from Dogfish Head you know they are known for making unique beers like the Midas Touch or their upcoming batch of chicha.

At first I thought this beer might be a gimmicky fall flavored beer, but I found myself actually enjoying it. Like the label states it’s a “full bodied brown ale brewed with real pumpkin, brown sugar, allspice, cinnamon, & nutmeg.”  The label’s description really isn’t too far off in what you’ll taste. It has a wonderful rusty brown color with a short lived slightly orange-ish creamy head, pretty much the perfect color for fall beer and cold weather. At first taste you really get the flavor of the allspice, cinnamon, and a bit of clove. Post-swallow it fades to the sweetness of the brown sugar and finally you’re left with the hints of pumpkin. All in all it’s smooth, great syrupy mouth-feel, and just a slight hoppy bitterness. Honestly though, I wish it had more pumpkin flavor and Houston had some legitimately cooler weather to enjoy accompany this brew. Maybe I like Thanksgiving and pumpkin pie way more than the average person, but I don’t think it would hurt to have a bit more of the pumpkin flavor. I think this would probably go great with a slice of actual pumpkin pie.  So if you see this on the shelf near Thanksgiving and want a solid fall beer, go for it, I enjoyed it.

Score: 88

Newcastle is probably the most famous brown ale on the planet.  In fact, it might be fair to say that in many ways it defines the genre.  How then, do you do a review of the most classic beer within a genre without reviewing the genre itself? Hard to say.  Hard to say.

Newcastle is a fairly dark beer, even for a brown ale.  While brown ales are generally darker than ambers, they don’t generally have the same nutty and carmely profile of their slightly lighter cousins.  Indeed, if I had to pick one single adjective for Newcastle, it would be “smooth”.  Slightly sweet with only a hint of bitterness, Newcastle is a dark beer that doesn’t taste like one.  Neither hoppy nor fruity, it is a subtle blend of sweet and bitter that is well balanced, but honestly starts to feel slightly generic.

Newcastle is defining.  It is a baseline.  It is where brown ales start and go either up or down. If anything, the main problem with Newcastle is its generic, industrial taste. If you’re trying to get into dark beers, not a bad place to start, but hardly as interesting as most American amber ales. This is a beer to get if you’re in a pub that serves nothing but generic lagers and Newcastle, but possibly not to purchase in a six-pack.

Score: 81

Earlier this week I came to the realization that I haven’t had a beer in over a month. Between vacations and travel and spending time in the boonies, I’ve probably only had one beer in the past 2-3 months, and that was at the airport in Atlanta.  Something that certainly needed to be corrected. Another thing that needed to be corrected was the lack of a review of Hoegaarden, one of my favorite beers, and one of the best Wits around.

I’m not ashamed to admit that the first time I had Hoegaarden, it was because of the funny name and the cool bottle.  It took about one sip to convince me I’d stumbled across one of the world’s truly great beers.  Since the price differential between this and other American made Wits has dropped significantly (only about $0.50 more than New Belgium’s offerings), I can’t think of any reason at all to stay domestic.

If your idea of a Belgian White is Blue Moon, think again.  Hoegaarden’s light body, complex balance of orange and coriander, and unique flavor gained from a special strand of yeast that grows literally nowhere else make completely set it apart from any imitator.  In fact, the only white I’ve ever tasted that is in the same league is the Blanche De Bruxelles I’ve reviewed before.  I tend to like the Bruxelles slightly more for its more complex flavor, but I couldn’t really score the Hoegaarden any less.

This beer is not cheap: $10 a six pack. It is less than the Bruxelles ($8 for a 4 pack), but still not what you would call a value beer.  Even at that price, though, I consider it a good value, given that it is an excellent example of the Genre, and an overall fantastic beer to drink.

Score: 97

“I’m not really sure whether this is good or not.”  My friend’s summary is about as close as I can get to what I think about this Sam Adams Seasonal.  Alternating between good and bad, each sip bring something different.  When I purchased this, I was afraid it might follow the pattern of several of the fruit ales that have come out recently, particualrly blueberry beers, which is to say I was afraid it would be more blackberry than beer.  I am glad to report that this Witbier has plenty of beer to balance the blackberry.  In fact, I would say the level of blackberry is almost perfect, but the beer is actually what lets me down.  While I’m sure this is technically a wheat beer, it suffers from the typical Sam Adams weakness of being entirely too heavily hopped.  While I love strong beers, there is a time and a place for a strong hop flavor, and in this particular beer I find the SA hoppiness to be slightly out of place.

Ultimately I wasn’t disappointed I bought it, but like most Sam Adams projects, I’m certain I won’t buy it again.

Score: 79

Real Ale’s yearly Barleywine is here again, and while you can still find the blue-labeled 2007 vintage in places, the 2008 labels have been reversed, and Sisyphus 2008 sports a bright gold label with blue lettering.  No matter – will it beat its elder brother, or be relegated to some other sinister doom in Hades?

As with the 2007 variety, Sisyphus 2008 is a light barleywine, if indeed there is such a thing.  While many barleywines have a deep, almost chocolate color and are fairly opaque, Sisyphus could be mistaken in a lineup for an Amber Ale.  While its color is lighter than a normal barleywine, it’s certainly not as light on flavor as a “normal” brew.  That said, what kills the 2008 Sisyphus, in my opinion, is its lack of complexity in comparison to the rest of the genre.  Sweet for a barleywine, though with the characteristic heavy hops and bitterness, Sisyphus is compex enough to best any normal beer, but compared to other barleywines, this one just doesn’t have quite the same punch.

If you’re just getting into barleywines and not sure if you’d like them or not, this one might be a good one to start with.  It’s certainly more palatable than most to the average person, but if you’re a drinker who appreciates complexity, I’d probably pass to another one.  Still, this is a worthy and enjoyable drink, and one that I’ll look forward to trying again next year.

Score: 90

While we haven’t reviewed them, Kona Brewing Company has started to make a name for itself by producing high quality beer.  While perusing the aisle of the local grocer, I was surprised to see two of my favorite things combined together:  a wheat ale brewed with passion fruit.  An intriguing combination to be sure, but did Kona pull it off?

From the start, Wailua is a drink that isn’t like any beer you’ve had.   The passion fruit notes are clearly evident, though in a more processed sense than fresh squeezed juice.  For those of you who are used to the normal supermarket rendition of passion fruit juice, you’ll find this quite familiar.  For those of you who’ve had the real stuff, you’ll know what I mean.  None the less, the biggest shortcoming is that I’m not really sure the flavor works for me in a beer.  I’ll drink passion fruit margaritas all day long, but the tart passion fruit somehow clashes with even the light bitterness of the underlying filtered wheat ale, and in the process turns into something that’s not quite what I want – somehow falling short of either of my favorites individually.

Wailua is a limited release, and if you’re looking to expand your beer horizons is worth a purchase.  It’s an easy and refreshing beer to drink, and there’s nothing really to complain about.   At the end of the day, though, I’d rather have a more traditional wheat ale – either a classic Hefeweizen with sweet banana and spicy clove or a wit with wonderful orange and coriander.  I’ll probably leave the Wailua behind.

Score: 89

With winter almost over and spring seasonals on the way, and given that we like to stay right on the cutting edge, I decided it was probably time to review New Belgium‘s winter seasonal before it actually disappeared from stores.  Deep and amber, it would be easy to confuse this beer with Fat Tire if you were just looking at them side by side, and indeed I’ve heard several people say that this is nothing more than a hoppy Fat Tire.  In my opinion, however, it’s so much more.

On first glace, this does seem like Fat Tire with an extra bucket of hops thrown in.  What it really is, however, is a stunning drink in its own right.  Light and clear in spite of having a tremendously rich hoppy flavor, 2 Below is one of the few very hoppy beers I’ve ever had which somehow manages to not make me say “too much”.  Indeed, it somehow manages to strike the perfect balance of sweetness, hoppiness and cleanliness.

New Belgium’s seasonals are typically excellent, and this is no exception.  The only real problem at this point is that it’s probably already beoming scarce.  Do yourself a favor and pick up a six pack while you can.

Score: 90