Highland Kashmir IPA - Highland Brewing

chinchill

South Carolina

3.49/5  rDev -1.4%
look: 3.25 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

12 oz bottle in Highland Brewing pint glass.

Pours a hazy orange-golden with a modest amount of white head. Head has moderate retention and good lacing.

Good carbonation. Some nice citrusy hop notes paired with a solid malt background. But ...
While not flawed or imbalanced, this is too much of an "IPA light" in terms of flavor and, a bit, in its lean mouthfeel. For some, this should make it a highly drinkable IPA, at least on a hot day, but I was hoping for something richer and bolder.

{Ratings confirmed on 5/6/11)

Serving type: bottle

01-27-2011 02:58:51 | More by chinchill

LuthersMug

Virginia

2.73/5  rDev -22.9%
look: 3 | smell: 4 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 2

A - Pale orange-yellow, head was unimpressive, only bits of lacing.

S - The only high point of this beer. My nose really enjoyed a sweet floral nectar.

T - Disappointing, the flavours I was smelling didn't come through on the taste, very bitter.

M - The beer didn't feel balanced and quite metallic aftertaste.

D - I didn't quite finish this one, just not appetizing.

Serving type: bottle

01-26-2011 22:32:22 | More by LuthersMug

beergod1

Ohio

3.3/5  rDev -6.8%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Light amber with a decent white head. Aroma is decent but fairly light. Taste is dry with a mild hop presence. Mildly sweet as well. Decent but overall somewhat underwhelming especially considering some other American IPAs being made. About average but nothing to search for.

Serving type: bottle

01-25-2011 22:45:48 | More by beergod1

n2185

North Carolina

2.4/5  rDev -32.2%
look: 2.5 | smell: 1.5 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 3

Poured from a bottle into a tulip

A: Very light-colored for an IPA--more like a pale ale or pilsner. Got about a finger of white head which quickly dissipated into a thin film with some lacing

S: Some bready sweetness in the nose with very little hops

T: Some light malty sweetness up front with the hops kicking in to provide some bitter bite at the end. Very light, though.

M: Light-bodied with a bit of carbonation bite at the end.

D: It's light enough without much bitterness so it is fairly drinkable. However, there just isn't much hop flavor there. I've had pale ales that were much hoppier than this beer.

Serving type: bottle

01-24-2011 23:04:26 | More by n2185

jsdunlop

North Carolina

4/5  rDev +13%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

A: Golden, with a slight amber hue, good frothy, fluffy white head, moderate sticky lacing.
S: Very subdued piney aroma, slight hints of earth and floral hoppiness. Bit of sweetness, honey. Fresh baked bread.
T: First thing I notice is a strong, strong metallic taste. Iron like. IF you can get through this initial blast of what tastes like blood, there's some definite hop flavor going on, some light pine, citrus and a floral like aftertaste that mingles with the slight hoppy bitterness nicely. Malty and bready taste to it, slight sweetness, nothing too overwhelming.
M: Nice medium body, matching carbonation, slick and oily feel to it.
D: Not sure whats going on with that metallic taste, didn't show up in the smell. Very off putting though. I'm going to edit this review in a couple days once I try another bottle from the sample pack.

edit 19 Jan 11: different bottle, editing taste and drinkability:

Fairly malt forward brew for an IPA...nice hoppiness, alot of citrus character, carbonation brings about the umphh of the citrus nicely, lots of pine in the aftertaste, leaves a lasting impact on the tongue after each sip, slight floral notes accent the maltiness well. Not as hop crazy as other IPA's I've had, but at the same time it's very well balanced, as seems to be the case with most of highlands beers. Bready malt and slight sweetness with a touch of grain seems to mingle nicely with the hop character of this beer. Drinkability is good, very balanced and enjoyable beer, not sure what was going on with the metallic taste in the last bottle, glad I re-reviewed this one.

Serving type: bottle

01-19-2011 03:07:52 | More by jsdunlop

Frosty80

Michigan

3.28/5  rDev -7.3%
look: 2.5 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

Color: pours pale golden. sits brilliantly clear pale gold. beautiful.

Smell: very light, clean nose with nothing standing out too much and definitely not an assertive hop character. pale malt and light hopping provides a clean balance with just a tinge of earthy, floral hops

Taste: just like the aromas, no flavor proves outstanding. everything is in good balance, but the hops should be standing out more. low alcohol for the style, or at least at the bottom of the range. finish is lightly bitter, which is basically the only place you DO find bitterness, with a hint of pale malt

Mouthfeel: light body with medium-high carbonation

Notes: looks, smells, tastes, and feels like a really good German pilsner, but really lacks as an IPA

Serving type: bottle

01-18-2011 03:32:43 | More by Frosty80

WesWes

New York

4.1/5  rDev +15.8%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

The beer pours a hazy gold color with a thick frothy white head that slowly fades to lacing. The aroma is good. It has a solid pale and biscuit malt scent along with nice piney hop aroma. The taste is good as well. It has your basic East IPA flavor; pale and biscuit malt, piney hops. It's smooth and easy drinking with a hint of bready character. The mouthfeel is fine. It is a medium bodied beer with adequate carbonation. This is a pretty standard IPA. It's balanced and true to style; a fine session ale.

Serving type: bottle

01-10-2011 21:15:51 | More by WesWes

BeerDawgs

Georgia

2.7/5  rDev -23.7%
look: 2.5 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3

A - It looks like a pilsner, not an IPA. Very light. Golden even. Nice lace on the side of the glass though.

S - Not very hoppy. Again, this is an IPA?

T - So I do at least taste the hops. Bitter.

M - Crisp and high carbonation.

D - Low. This is not a very good IPA. Was hoping for more.

Serving type: bottle

01-02-2011 02:09:27 | More by BeerDawgs

sommersb

Tennessee

3.33/5  rDev -5.9%
look: 3 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

From a bottle with no date code, poured into a New Belgium globe glass.

A: Golden coloring that started cloudy but became more clear as it settled. One finger of white head faded quickly, with little lacing.

S: Very pronounced hop aromas, with citrus and grassy smells. Also got a slight malt aroma.

T: Aggressive bitterness from the hops with a grapefruit taste. No malt tastes came through.

M: Medium body and moderate carbonation, left me with a lingering bitter aftertaste.

D: Too bitter for my tastes. This was given as a gift and is not a beer I would seek to purchase.

Serving type: bottle

12-31-2010 06:01:13 | More by sommersb

HopDiggityDawg

North Carolina

3.7/5  rDev +4.5%
look: 4 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 3 | overall: 4.5

pours a cloudy orange
nice 1 finger head
decent lacing
aroma is nothing to even mention, but I am a double IPA freak so maybe I am just used to the huge Hop Bomb smell.

Taste is surprisingly good after the lack of aroma, But, at the end of the day, you drink beer, you don't sit around smelling it.

Taste is a nice dose of hops with enough malt to finish smooth. Very well balanced.

This is a session beer for sure, good solid offering from Highland Brewing. I really enjoyed this IPA!

Serving type: bottle

12-30-2010 23:34:42 | More by HopDiggityDawg

birchstick

Missouri

3.68/5  rDev +4%
look: 3.5 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

A - pours a cloudy orangeish yellow with a nice one finger head

S - pretty faint nose, but I can pick up some lemony citrusness and a bit of bready malt

T - luckily the palate is more playful than the nose. It opens up with a bread and caramel malt base. This fades to a boat load of sweet, grapefruit hops with just a slight bit of bitterness. Nice flavor profile.

M - creamy moutfeel with a full body. Solid flavor profile.

D - another great offering from Highland. This was a flavorful IPA that is more sweet than bitter. Really glad I got the chance to try this one.

Serving type: bottle

12-29-2010 03:04:39 | More by birchstick

Brent

Kentucky

4.22/5  rDev +19.2%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

A solid entry in the IPA class. Nicely hoppy, with bright fresh hops notes. A bit of pepperyness toward the finish, with a touch of sweet malt. While I've found Highland's offerings to be a bit bland in their basic style offerings, the brewery produces some very nice products toward the ends of the dark and hoppy parts of the spectrum.

Serving type: bottle

12-03-2010 15:42:14 | More by Brent

StoneTSR

Colorado

3.55/5  rDev +0.3%
look: 4 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

APPEARANCE: Poured from a 12oz. bottle into a Blue Mountain Brewery pint glass. Slightly hazy, but bright orange in color a nice, fluffy and perfectly white head rested on top and remained for several minutes. Some lacing, but not as impressive as I expected after the initial pour.

SMELL: Faint smell of fruit and hops. Grapefruit seems to come through the strongest.

TASTE: As the smell would indicate, relatively bitter hops and grapefruit came through along with a faint metallic taste. The back end moves a bit more to the sweet side, but could never be interpreted as a sweet beer overall. It still remains on the dry side.

MOUTHFEEL: The Kashmir IPA is somehow simultaneously light and rich. It almost seems like a 3 Muskateers bar in that sense, as if your senses are tricking you into thinking something that is pretty rich is actually light.

OVERALL: This is an interesting IPA and I wish that I had more access to it. Living in Chicago, I cannot get it at the moment. I like it, but it has a unique taste in the IPA world and I feel that if I had a little more time to spend with it I would learn to appreciate it more. Maybe next year if I can manage to get into law school at UNC.

Serving type: bottle

11-10-2010 01:38:56 | More by StoneTSR

beerdown77

North Carolina

3.15/5  rDev -11%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Drank From: bottle, poured into a pint glass

Let's be honest, this looked like IPA when poured. I tried really hard to smell something signification, to the point of aspirating some foam, and I found that it just wasn't all that fragrant. Oh, my notes say "feet smell"...so there you go. This beer had kind of a dirty/metallic taste to it. I wondered how similar it would be if I put the bottle cap in mouth mouth and followed that by a swig of the sauce. Obviously I tried it; obviously, the beer was better.

So this was bitter and not sweet, which I like as a variety. It isn't my favorite IPA, and I probably wouldn't try it again until I had the opportunity to have it on-tap. Highland Brewing Co. hails from Ashville, NC. What is the point of enjoying craft beer if you can't find something to appreciate about the local folk?

Serving type: bottle

11-06-2010 03:50:21 | More by beerdown77

TheKingofWichita

North Carolina

3.03/5  rDev -14.4%
look: 2.5 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Pours a pale yellow color with orange notes and a nice white head and some lacing. Smells of oranges and strong hop aroma. Tastes average with some strong bitter hops and floral notes. Mouthfeel is okay with a decent drinkability. I don't generally drink IPA but this isn't entirely a bad choice.

Serving type: bottle

10-18-2010 16:38:21 | More by TheKingofWichita

MbpBugeye

Ohio

2.4/5  rDev -32.2%
look: 3 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 2 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 3

Yet another gift from Ryan.

A- clear gold with a sticky white head. Not much retention but ok lacing.

S- fairly well balanced smelling. toasty malts match strength with pine hops.

T-.not impressed. Not nice and freshly hopped tasting. Bitter finish and toasty up front.

M- Overly carbonated.

Serving type: bottle

10-04-2010 20:45:07 | More by MbpBugeye

jzeilinger

Pennsylvania

3.63/5  rDev +2.5%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4.5

A - Pours a light gold color with mild carbonation, thin white ring lacing, and clear.

S - Citrus hops and some floral aroma, on the mild side. Malt is very, very light.

T - Light sweet bready malt appears up front and stays throughout the sip, while citris and floral hops roll in over the top to balance things out right away. There's a little bit of a lemon grass flavor that step in midway through and the finish is semi-dry. The overall flavor isn't memorable, but average, and the lingering hop bitterness I really enjoy. There is wheat in the ingredients which lends itself to the bready taste.

M - Medium body, light carbonation on the tongue, a mild touch of water in the mouthfeel but works well with the blend.

D - Perhaps it's strongest point. This is a quaffer and would be one I could enjoy several without getting over the top loopy.

Worth trying, not my type of IPA, but enjoyable.

Serving type: bottle

10-03-2010 22:04:29 | More by jzeilinger

ComfortablyBum

North Carolina

4.03/5  rDev +13.8%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4

12 oz bottle poured into DFH glass

A - Pale straw and very clear. Not much head.

S - Not much smell to it. I shouldn't have read the previous review where the guy says it smells like Urine because I can't smell anything else.

T - It has some fruity flavor before the hops come in. Not a super bitter IPA

M - A medium bodied beer. Nice carbonation. It bites the tongue with bitterness and carbonation.

D - Smooth and mellow. A good session beer.

Serving type: bottle

09-30-2010 02:34:47 | More by ComfortablyBum

crossovert

Wisconsin

2.85/5  rDev -19.5%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

12 oz brown bottle. Date is 07/28/10.

It has a really nice appearance, it is a clear gold with a hue of orange with a big foamy white head that sticks for a bit then recedes with some nice lacing.

The smell kind of has the reminiscence of urine along with some rotten pineapple. Not the best.

The flavor is also not great. It has a hue malt presence, almost like liquid bread. No bitterness, no real hop flavors. Almost a corn flavor.

Foul.

Serving type: bottle

09-29-2010 05:05:36 | More by crossovert

wallaceandvomit

Florida

3.63/5  rDev +2.5%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

a= large head, decent duration, decent lacing, medium-ligt amber color
s= nice mild hoppy slightly floral/citrus scent
t= nice hop bitterness with a slight floral/citrus taste, more bitter than sweet
m= average mouthfeel, maybe a little oily with mild carbonation
d= just an average ipa, havent really had a bad one just ipas that are worth a shot but dont really compete with similarly priced beers

Serving type: bottle

09-27-2010 23:50:35 | More by wallaceandvomit

JDH2000

Maryland

3/5  rDev -15.3%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

12 oz bottle poured into a pint glass.

A- pours light gold with less than a half finger of head. The bubbles quickly dissipate to the edge of the glass with a little lacing.

S- citrus hops such as grapefruit followed by light malt. Not quite as hoppy as I was expecting.

T- nice bitterness (again, citrus/grapefruit flavors from the hops) that balances the sweetness of the light malts.

M- medium bodied with light carbonation with slightly oily mouthfeel.

D- overall, not bad. Though I agree with other comments that the Highland's Gaelic Ale was better.

Serving type: bottle

09-22-2010 01:55:49 | More by JDH2000

klikger

Wisconsin

3.38/5  rDev -4.5%
look: 3 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

12 oz bottle served in a Goose Island IPA tulip

A - Light amber with not much head, but decent lacing.

S - A little bit of feet and little else.

T - Citrus hops and honey hit this off, with more sweetness following. The back half isn't any different. All in all, this tastes pretty good.

M - A light, crisp, slightly undercarbonated IPA.

D - Good taste and mouthfeel plus low ABV.

Standard IPA - not offensive, but there are far better beers available.

Serving type: bottle

09-21-2010 23:03:43 | More by klikger

liamt07

Ontario (Canada)

3.78/5  rDev +6.8%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Bottle courtesy of 67couple, 12oz bottle into my new Brooklyn Brewery footed pilsner glass. Screw proper glassware!

Pours a hazy, orange/tangerine with a finger of white head. Some lace, not too much retention however. Nice, but not overly impressive. Big hit of citrus, leaning more towards orange and some lemon zest. Nice hops here, very little malt detectable in the nose. Certainly hop forward in the taste, again significantly citrusy, with orange, lemon zest and some peach in here too. Not a ton of malt here, and feels quite unbalanced. Still quite a bit of bite to this one although it's probably a little past its prime. Good mouthfeel, medium-high carbonation and goes down quite quickly so it gets some points for drinkability. Decent IPA.

Serving type: bottle

09-19-2010 03:57:25 | More by liamt07

allthatAles

Georgia

3.68/5  rDev +4%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Pour: A true amber, plays between orange an honey a light haze, the head formed and receded within a short time but left a reasonable lacing covering nearly all the surface.

Nose: Light malt bit of citrus and a little soapy on the finish

Mouth: the light malt comes in from the beginning to the middle, the hops are assertive at the beginning and the end, with the ending featuring a grassy characteristic that lingers with soapy feel, after savoring for moment, the esters reveal some nice fruity notes that actually out last the hops

Overall not bad. however, i was more impressed with their Gaelic Ale.

Serving type: bottle

09-06-2010 18:47:26 | More by allthatAles

hoplover82

Texas

4.22/5  rDev +19.2%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

It's interesting that this beer is catacgorized as an American IPA... I'm judging this as an EIPA so, just know that...

A-Pours an almost clear deep golden color with a cream/fluffy white head that has good retention and very good lacing.

S-The aroma is full of fruity, the reason I said that it's interesting that it's catagorized as an American IPA because all I get is English hops. Fuggles fo sho! If this was labled as an EIPA I would be very pleased with it. Woody hops are in the front with a fruity background.

T-The flavor is hoppy fo sho with woody/earthy and resonous hops and a soft caramel clean bitter finish.

M-The mouthfeel is crisp yet creamy at the same time. Has a clean bitter finish too. Medium body.

D-This beer is pretty sessoinable. I suggest this beer to any hop lover.

Serving type: bottle

08-23-2010 00:19:03 | More by hoplover82