Highland Brewing Company - Black Mocha Stout & Oatmeal Porter

Highland Brewing Company, located in Asheville, NC is a brewery that truly fits its community.  Asheville, NC is known for its scenic views, good food, music scene, eclectic population mix and now...beer!  It is Highland's goal to be the brewery of choice in the Southeast - a goal that is certainly attainable.  

Most people who have had a Highland beer have had the Highland Gaelic Ale which is an amber colored ale with a malty body and complex hop flavor and aroma.  This is a beer that could easily become an every day beer as I believe it pairs well with a variety of foods and is great on its own. 

For Christmas, my business partner and I exchanged mixed packs of beer.  He was extremely generous and gave me both a mix of Samuel Adams seasonal brews as well as a mix pack of Highland Brews.  While I have enjoyed them all, I thought I would focus on two of the ones that definitely stood taller than the others.  The Sammy Adams brews will be covered in another post.  

The first is the Black Mocha Stout.  This brew is a very smooth stout that is not overrun by the chocolate flavor its name would suggest.  The roasted flavor is a nice blend of coffee and chocolate and has a slightly hoppy finish.  It carries 25 IBU's.  Because of its smooth nature, this beer can be enjoyed on its own or be paired with a variety of foods including dessert!  It is certainly on the sweeter end of the stout spectrum.  Also, it is not as creamy as a Guinness, so you may want to take that into consideration if the creamy element is important to you when downing a stout!

The second is the Oatmeal Porter. This brew is a unique and robust dark beer with malty and roasted chocolate flavor with a nice hop balance. What keeps this porter so smooth is the introduction of oatmeal which helps give it its silky texture.  When poured into a glass via bottle or draft, it has a very dark body and nice caramel head.  35 IBU's and 5.9% alcohol content per volume.  I have tried this beer in a room temperature glass and a frozen mug.  This is just my opinion, but I think the aroma and flavors are more pronounced in the room temperature glass.  Try both and let me know what you think.

You really cannot go wrong with any of the Highland Brewery beers.  If you ever visit Asheville, go enjoy one straight from the brewery or at Barley's Taproom.