Blowing Rock High Country Ale - Boone Brewing Company, LLC

mikesgroove

South Carolina

3.73/5  rDev +14.1%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

A lovely day up in the mountains that let me try a huge sample of some new NC locals. Always thrilled when a day works out like this one did.

One of my first chances to try anything from them, I was excited to go for this lighter pale to see what they were making way up in the hills. A nice light color, golden around the edges with a hint of a dark amber in the middle. Lots of carbonation coming up from the bottom of the glass left a nice two finger head of white foam that capped the top of the glass very nicely. Aroma is light hops, biscuit notes, and hints of herbal, floral tones and a light touch of grain. Well balanced with nothing really dominating more then anything else. Body was light, well carbonated but light with hints of caramel and sweet piney hops that hit the tongue on the first sips. Smooth and gentle the flavor did not evolve much over time and the finish was about as clean and quick as they come.

Overall a solid little ale, nothing really to complain about and nothing that would keep you from putting down more then one on a hot day. Good effort.

Serving type: bottle

06-07-2010 23:50:43 | More by mikesgroove

oberon

North Carolina

3.58/5  rDev +9.5%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5

Brewed in Wilkes Barre,PA according to the label,poured into a standard pint glass a clear light to medium golden with a tight formed craterous 1/2 finger white head.Good balance to the aroma,mainly biscuity crystal malt,leafy,and citric hop,with some toasty notes as well.The mouthfeel is thin and a little prickly wich takes away some of the fullness of flavor,flavors are again balanced with some light caramel-like sweetness and biscuit,the hops finish nicely with a crisp citric note.Not bad,its well balanced but the mouthfeel leavs something to be desired.

Serving type: bottle

10-06-2008 23:37:12 | More by oberon

Mora2000

Texas

3.4/5  rDev +4%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Thanks to ericandersnavy for sharing this bottle.

The beer pours yellow with a white head. The aroma is almost impossible to detect but there is some wheat and lighter malts in there. The flavor is wheat malt with some citrus, but it is also a little faint. Medium mouthfeel and medium carbonation.

Serving type: bottle

03-19-2010 22:43:28 | More by Mora2000

tempest

Pennsylvania

3.38/5  rDev +3.4%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

Had a bottle with lunch at Lovie's Kitchen in Corolla, NC for $2. Not bad for a relatively cheap beer (though Lovie's was selling PBR cans for $1.25). It's a simple, balanced pale ale with a subtle, mild citrus character, with clean biscuity bread barley. Yeah, it's basic for the style and doesn't have big bitterness, but it does an excellent job of washing down my turkey and brie sandwich.

Serving type: bottle

06-15-2012 22:17:22 | More by tempest

avalon07

South Carolina

3.5/5  rDev +7%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

A: Poured from a bottle to a pint glass. Had a coppery color and a slightly hazy consistency. There was a quarter inch of foamy head that quickly dissipated and some average lacing.

S: Had an aroma of malt and floral hops. Not an overly powerful nose, ut OK.

T: Tasted of floral hops up front and some sweet malt in the finish. As is typical of pale ales, this one isn't bad, but doesn't win points for complexity.

M: A good amount of carbonation with a dry finish. Light-bodied.

D: A drinkable, if unspectacular pale ale.

Serving type: bottle

01-08-2010 13:21:11 | More by avalon07

tpd975

Florida

3.33/5  rDev +1.8%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3

A: Pours a nice light golden almost amber hue. Nice tall creamy head, pretty good retention and lace.

S: Very malty.... Fresh bread, bread yeast, caramel, and a touch of earthy hops.

T: Malt forward as well. Where is the APA? Nice bready tones with lots of malt sweetness. Very sublte taste of light citrus in the finish. More sweet orange than bitter grapefruit.

M: Medium in body, fairly crisp with good carbonation.

D: Just Ok. Would like a big blast of hops on the backend.

Serving type: bottle

09-01-2009 16:50:21 | More by tpd975

tdm168

North Carolina

2.63/5  rDev -19.6%
look: 3 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 2.5

Comes out golden when poured with thin, bubbly head that quickly fades to nothing. Heavy carbonation bubbles rising to the top. The smell is light malt, metal, and apples. The taste is malty with an apple-like sweetness that dominates. There are faint hops in the finish. The mouthfeel is light to medium bodied with decent carbonation.

This is a little one dimensional and sweet. There is no complexity; neither dominant malt character nor noteworthy hop presence. I think I'll pass in the future.

Serving type: bottle

10-06-2011 23:02:26 | More by tdm168

flexabull

California

3/5  rDev -8.3%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

Bottle courtesy of turtlemoye, thanks again!

I am a little confused about this one, it says Boone Brewing and the bottle says it is brewed in Wilkes-Barre PA, but BA says Blowing Rock NC?

Anyways... on to the beer.

Pours a light gold color with a faint white head.

Aromas are sweet, with a mineral and soda water like note. This is odd smelling, but not bad.

Taste is sweet, a little syrupy, and cloying. There is a cereal grain sweetness, with some caramel malt flavors. Finish has a hint of mineral hop bitterness, but it pretty flat.

Mouthfeel is ok, but comes of as too sweet and thick feeling.

Drinkability is so so. This is an average brew at best. Not terrible, but I don't think I'd want another.

Serving type: bottle

05-11-2009 04:57:04 | More by flexabull

atsprings

North Carolina

3.58/5  rDev +9.5%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

12oz bottle into a Brooklyn goblet. Pours a crisp bubbly light orange with a thin head that quickly diminishes to a ring but leaves great lacing. Aroma was faint citrus hops and sweet malts. The taste is a decent balance of citrus malts and sweet malts, just about what I expect from an American pale ale. The beer is extremely light and crisp with decent carbonation. This one most simply put another run of the mill APA.

Serving type: bottle

12-10-2008 11:10:05 | More by atsprings

donkeyrunner

Massachusetts

2.68/5  rDev -18%
look: 3 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

Deep gold color with a average white head. Some thin swirl retention and minimal lace.

Smell is almost non-existant. Maybe corn bread?

Light and crisp. Sweet corn bread malt with some very, very mild citrus. Peppery tin can taste with swallow. Ebulliant cabonation. There are so many off things about this beer (weak retention, lack of smell, metallic taste, etc.) that it seems like a crapshoot homebrew. Mild enough beer that one could drink a few of these if that was your thing.

Serving type: bottle

01-22-2009 12:59:32 | More by donkeyrunner

chinchill

South Carolina

3.43/5  rDev +4.9%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 3.5

A 12oz undated bottle of beer brewed in PA. Served in a pint glass.

Pours a clear amber despite some visible sediment on the bottom of the empty bottle. Some visible carbonation under a creamy tan head. The head has decent retention and leaves plenty of lacing on the glass.

The aroma and flavor both feature light hops with a solid malt backbone. Nice but weak aroma.
More flavorful but less citrus than indicated by aroma. Taste is a tad metallic. Overall, sweet and bitter are balanced until the mildly bitter aftertaste.

Crisp feel in a medium-thin body; Slight dryness in the finish. A bit too acidic feeling.

Serving type: bottle

10-25-2011 23:38:00 | More by chinchill

Onenote81

North Carolina

3.98/5  rDev +21.7%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

12oz bottle poured into a pint glass. Pours a transparent dark orange with a thick off-white head resting on the top. Retention is fair; leaves some light lace on the glass. Scents of sweet malts, honey, and a faint piney resin on the back end.

The mouth is firm with a crisp carbonation front, and a smooth finish. Great sweet malty flavors that mix well with a moderate hop bitterness. Some fresh bread aftertaste. I could drink these all the time, and with this beer being sold everywhere in the city, I just may. Much better than anticipated.

Serving type: bottle

05-11-2010 18:35:48 | More by Onenote81

cvstrickland

North Carolina

4.05/5  rDev +23.9%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4.5

12-ounce twist-off topped bottle poured into my DFH shaped pint glass yields a clear golden amber body capped with a thick finger of soft ivory foam that retains at a broken sheet and leaves swatches of lacing on the glass.

The smell of the drink features spicy, herbal hops right up front, backed with a note of pale malt and the lightest whiff of sweet brown caramel. A bit of sweet black tea lurks in the background.

The taste is spicy with a zing of citrusy and earthy hops atop a mild malty backbone. Flavors of sweet orange and a dash of lime nicely accent a tasty cookie-malt character that compels me to have another swig. The component flavors of Blowing Rock offer nothing in excess, but a sweet harmony of mild, balanced flavors is the hallmark of the ale.

The drink is crisp and on the light side of medium-bodied, making it plenty refreshing on a sultry NC summer day. Superb drinkability.

Serving type: bottle

08-17-2008 13:46:44 | More by cvstrickland

wcudwight

North Carolina

3.75/5  rDev +14.7%
look: 3 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5

Bright golden in color, crystal clear. Thin wet drippy head with some sparse lacing.
Nice aroma of citrus hops and some peaches.
On the balanced side for an APA. Plenty of pale malts and maybe some caramel too. Plenty of hops for the style. Hop flavors bounce from citrus to grassy. Somewhat earthy flavored.
Light bodied and thin mouthfeel which doesn't really add or detract anything from the beer.
Very drinkable and sessionable. Nice summertime ale.

Serving type: bottle

03-01-2009 20:40:36 | More by wcudwight

CHADMC3

Connecticut

3.45/5  rDev +5.5%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5

A transparent copper body gives way to a 2 inch snow white head which leaves a sticky lacing that survives throughout the enjoyment of this beer.

Primary aromas are of caramel and hops, but I am also detecting something slightly metallic.

For the most part, the taste matches the aroma of caramel and hops, perhaps something spicy, but again metallic as well.

Full body and medium carbonation are a very pleasant compliment to the hop presence on the palate.

Decent beer overall, but in my opinion has just a little something missing in the flavor.

Serving type: bottle

11-28-2008 01:18:55 | More by CHADMC3

nick76

Florida

3.85/5  rDev +17.7%
look: 3 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

The first element in the aroma is sweet malt with a bit of a metallic bite. There is also some grassy hops. The appearance is gold with an amber hue. The head blows up pretty fast and falls even faster. The flavor is really well balanced between sweet malt and hops. The palate is really smooth from carbonation. I was really thirsty when I drank this beer and it was very refreshing and quite flavorful at the same time. It's not a standout beer but it's a very solid one.

Serving type: bottle

04-10-2009 05:03:29 | More by nick76

bboven

Texas

4.1/5  rDev +25.4%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Pale ales can run the gammut from malty to hoppy. Here's one on the maltier side.

Medium copper color, very clear with a thin head even after a fairly vigorous pour. A little lacing.

Aroma is extremely balanced. Fairly complex mat with a peppery hop aroma are right in tune with one another.

Taste leans slightly towards the malty side but that's not a bad thing. The only thing I can complain about is a slight metallic taste towards the end of the swallow.

Mouthfeel is medium-drying, and pretty highly carbonated. I'd knock that down a peg, but that's just me.

All in all, a very balanced, good example of what a pale ale can be. It would be a good one to introduce to non-craft drinkers, for sure.

Serving type: bottle

10-03-2008 02:18:35 | More by bboven

Gyle41386

South Carolina

2.95/5  rDev -9.8%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 3

Poured from a bottle into a pint glass.

Pours a golden amber with a fairly small white head. Retention is minimal, dropping quickly to a tiny ring. Not too much in the lacing department.

Aroma is kind of odd...plenty of pale malt and citric hops, with a spicy, peppery kind of scent on top. Weird, but not off-putting. Almost has kind of a cider vibe.

I just don't know about this one. It's sweet and sour. It's got enough of a grainy flavor to make it lager-y. This is just a weird beer. I'm not entirely sure what's going on with this one.

Light body, watery and thin, very tingly carbonation...probably overdone. There's nothing about this beer that I'd consider bad, but, unfortunately, there's nothing I'd really consider good, either.

Serving type: bottle

02-13-2010 02:31:41 | More by Gyle41386

Luigi

North Carolina

2.58/5  rDev -21.1%
look: 3 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 2.5

Pours our a clear golden color with a two finger head that quickly goes down to a thin lace around the glass.

The aroma is clean with a hint of biscuit like malt, with a mild hop presence.

A sweet malt hit the palate first and lingers for a bit. Very clean but no real hop presence at all.

Light crisp body and goes down easy.

I remember trying this ale years ago and I could have sworn there was a bigger hop flavor. Then again it could have been the IPA. Either way this Pale Ale was a disappointment.

Serving type: bottle

10-18-2012 05:52:56 | More by Luigi

TheKingofWichita

North Carolina

1.88/5  rDev -42.5%
look: 2.5 | smell: 2 | taste: 2 | feel: 1.5 | overall: 1.5

Not a very nice beer here. Tastes very adjunct to me.
Pours a decent looking straw color with a white head and no lacing. Smells of artificial oranges and hops. Tastes of minimal orange flavor with some malts, and tons of hops. Bitter. Mouthfeel is very thin, below average. Drinkability is certainly not good.

Serving type: bottle

10-14-2010 15:57:55 | More by TheKingofWichita

cdizinno

South Carolina

3.55/5  rDev +8.6%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 3.5

Presentation: Poured into a tulip glass from a 12 oz brown twist top bottle as pictured.

A: Clear amber/copper color with thick off-white head and heavy lacing.

S: Mild citrus and pine hop scent.

T&M: Lighter body than I would have hoped from the smell. Almost watery and thin, but decent mild malt and hop flavor. Finely carbonated that fades to a slightly hop bitter finish that is just watery.

Decent ale that I got in a 'beer of the month' from my local supplier. I have no idea what the cost is and it would be decent if inexpensive, but nothing to write home about.

Serving type: bottle

01-10-2010 22:59:08 | More by cdizinno

thegodfather2701

North Carolina

3.13/5  rDev -4.3%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

I had this on tap at Sticks and Stones in Greensboro, NC. It pours a clear golden color with a small white head. It smells somewhat hoppy, but nothing over powering. When it first hits the tongue it tastes slightly hoppy. The only way I can describe the finish is grassy. It had a decent lacing. This beer reminds me of a lot of Red Oak, but a touch more hoppy. Overall I would recommend this beer to friends who are just getting into craft beer. For me this beer was nothing special and I don't plan on trying it again.

Serving type: on-tap

01-03-2009 03:45:56 | More by thegodfather2701

dtivp

West Virginia

2.55/5  rDev -22%
look: 3.5 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 2.5

Poured a medium clear golden amber with a very small white head that faded quickly into a ring with light lacing.

Aroma was a very weak with hints of sweet malt.

Taste followed the nose with a slightly sweet malt and caramel.

Mouth Feel was light to medium body with light carbonanation and a slight oily feel.

Overall I was not impressed, needs to be more balanced with some hop bitterness.

Serving type: bottle

07-22-2011 00:30:15 | More by dtivp

Augustiner719

Connecticut

2.42/5  rDev -26%
look: 2.5 | smell: 2 | taste: 2 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5

poured from a 12oz bottle into a tulip glass:

pours a reddish brown color with crystal clear visability. no head to speak off and looks lightly carbonated. Smell is faint corn and light malt characteristics. has a yuengling type smell with some american adjuncty aromas of corn and ethanol. Tastes not much different as its got sort of a sweet bitter finish with an extremely light body and little finish. Nothing great here, just plain old beer meant for drinking fast i guess. mouthfeel is alright as its got a crisp finish, but still nothing to brag about. I would rate this a better version of miller high life or coors original, but nothing more than that. really a simple style beer capable of being replicated by the macro companies.

Serving type: bottle

07-19-2010 01:36:40 | More by Augustiner719

montageman

Michigan

3.9/5  rDev +19.3%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

Poured into a pint glass.

Purchased this while vacationing in the Outer Banks, NC on a recommendation from a lady at the Brew Thru in Corolla. She really likes this beer and I can see why. It's a totally smooth, easy drinking ale. There is a small hop presence, but the sweet malt finish really steals the show here. Could really get into drinking this on a regular basis. However, this beer isn't available in MI. Oh well. Recommended.

Serving type: bottle

07-25-2009 01:12:31 | More by montageman