I've heard people talk adoringly about this beer before. I was only mildly curious at first, but then last week I found myself rushing to my local growler fill* because I had read he was tapping a keg of it. Unfortunately he was only promoting it for the following week and I had conveniently skipped over the date. I attempted to talk him into tapping it a little early for me but I failed miserably. But the wait was worth it. I even came away with a free glass!
Enough of that, onto the tasting. The color is a rich amber and the head was nice and frothy. I didn't catch much with the nose but the taste is a joy to the taste buds. Now let me come clean, I'm a sucker for vanilla. And this is a beautiful blend of malt, vanilla, some hops and spices. I get a good bit of alcohol on the back end, enough to make me think "Well, that's not going to be good." But then it finished really smoothly with some more vanilla and a hint of hoppy bitterness.
Now, one thing I've been trying to do more of with these winter ales and stouts is let them sit and warm up some. The tastes usually benefit you for your patience. The first glass I had of Cold Mountain went pretty quickly beside the grill. But the second glass I forced myself to enjoy slowly. And the warmer this one gets the more the vanilla mellows into the spices for me. I don't know that it's better, just different.
And that's what I like about winter ales. Their character mellows some and changes a bit as it "ages" in your glass. I give Cold Mountain high marks. It went really well with my steak and sweet potatoes. It also went well standing alone in front of the Falcons game. Grab some soon before the season is behind us.
*I have a post on growlers coming soon. If you're a fan of fresh beer and America, you're not going to want to miss it.
4 comments:
Couldn't agree more. I was blessed to find this on tap this week. I'm a big fan of all things Highlands, and this excelled above even many of their other brews. Now I have to go source a 6 pack. NC needs to jump on this growler store concept, only available at the brewery here.
Thanks Bernie. I have heard a lot of good things about this brew as well. I will have to find some, but no luck yet.
I thought we'd never get any growler options nearby. My advice is to keep asking and asking at places that can put them in. Eventually they're either going to be trailblazers like the rest, or fall way behind the times. Growlers aren't the only way to get beer, but they're the best way to get it.
If I'm not mistaken this year's was just recently bottled and shipped. Keep trying!
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