Saturday Sunshine, Highland Black Mocha Stout, and CAO America

On the Saturday before Easter, while the family watched NCAA basketball, I escaped to the deck to enjoy the sunshine. The sun was shining causing me to squint in the bright light, and it was glorious. It was mid-afternoon and I was in the mood for a beer with my cigar.

The mostly-beer fridge downstairs had recently been rearranged to make room for all the Easter food being prepared. A bottle of Highland Brewing Black Mocha Stout turned up during that shuffle. Admittedly, the bottle was from our trip to North Carolina a few years back, but it had been refrigerated during the intervening years, so I was hopeful. Upon pouring, the beer had a full, stiff head so all was good.

Highland Black Mocha Stout has dark chocolate, coffee, and citrus hops in the aroma. The breeze in the air was wafting it to my nose as a prepared the cigar for lighting. Dark, bitter cocoa and chocolate malt great the palate. There's a pleasantly bitter roasted maltiness that lingers in the aftertaste. I began to wish there was another "lost" bottle in the fridge to be found.

I had picked up a five pack of the CAO America last fall, with the plan to save them for an Independence or Memorial Day weekend, but they seem be getting smoked regularly, so perhaps those plans will be altered.

CAO America Potomac is a 5 x 56, fat Robusto. It features a dark Connecticut Broadleaf wrapper accented with a barber pole of Connecticut shade leaf. A Brazilian binder encases a blend of Dominican Republic, Italy, Nicaragua, and USA Connecticut fillers. That recipe produces notes of vanilla and cedar, with a touch of pepper coming in at the end. The medium bodied smoke has a creamy overall feel to it. It's a very nice compliment to the dark stout.

I enjoyed a 75 minute smoke in the sun. While the cigar and beer was finished, I was table to enjoy the sun a while longer. It was time to grill the beef for tonight's carne asada feast.

Cheers!

Tatuaje Wolf at the Fire Pit

After spending the morning clearing the yard of leaves, which included all the leaves accumulated in the fire pit, I built the first fire — at home — this season. While I've enjoyed time fireside while on trips, and even at the cigar lounge, our home pit has been sadly idle. Until this weekend.

By mid-afternoon Saturday I was anxiously preparing the kindling and stacking logs nearby. After a short time I had the start of a nice fire, and could pour a beer, light a cigar, and take my seat in a comfortable chair. The cigar chosen was the Tatuaje Monster Mash Wolf, and the beverage was Highland Brewing Black Mocha Stout.

I was expecting this to be a flavorful pairing, and was not disappointed. The Black Mocha Stout pours nearly black, just showing some dark red hints at the edges. A thin, tan head quickly diminishes. I can detect aromas of dark chocolate and coffee. Dark cocoa and roasted malt lingers in the aftertaste.

Tatuaje Monster Mash Wolf is the fourth cigar I've smoked from the 2021 Monster Mash assortment. The 6 x 52 Torpedo has a toothy, oily Ecuadorian Sumatra wrapper leaf, with Nicaraguan binder and filler tobaccos. The initial flavors from the smoke combine a medium woodiness with bitter dark coffee. There's some mild pepper initially. The pepper faded as I smoked, perhaps being "cooled" by the flavorful beer.

As the sun began to set, much too early, the temperature likewise dropped, but the fire was putting off a nice heat. The neighbors' intermittent garden equipment also ceased operation as darkness arrived. The flavor of the Wolf was holding strong, with more intense spicy notes of black pepper making an appearance. In the last third of the stick, the spice coated my palate and lips with that little bit of extra kick. The transition was notable, and wholly enjoyable. 

Too soon, the cigar was finished, and the short nub tossed into the waning fire. The several hours spent listening to the crackling of the fire, and unseen creatures rustling in the woods, while enjoying an excellent cigar made for a wholly enjoyable afternoon.

Cigars, Drinks, and Football

As fall arrives, so does the realization that I have unused vacation time at risk of loss. My employer has a generous leave policy, but that policy also allows for no banked time. "Use it or lose it" is the rule. 

As such, I've been striving to put in real "time off" before the end of the year, mostly in the form of long weekends. A few weeks ago, we managed a three day weekend away.

Our first evening at the VRBO farmhouse, to help recovered from the time on the road, included a good bourbon and cigar, naturally. 

The Old Forester 1910 Whiskey is a libation I've been enjoying frequently of late. It's got just enough spice to be interesting, but is readily sippable, leading to frequent topping off of the glass. The accompanying smoke was the Crowned Heads Las Calaveras Edicion Limitada, 2020 vintage. I'd saved a single stick of both the 2020 and 2019 releases. Now that the 2021 edition is released and represented in my humidor, I've decided to smoke those reserves. The stick was much as I remembered with sweet, earthy notes and a hint of pepper and spice. As a side note, I had smoked the 2019 stick earlier in the week and found the flavors significantly muted after the two year rest.

The following day featured an afternoon smoke and beer on the patio, enjoying the mountain and farm scenes in the distance. Highland Brewing Black Mocha Stout is a beer we brought back from a recent trip to western North Carolina. The malty stout features deep roasted grains and chocolate for a robust flavor profile, with a very low 5% ABV.

The Dissident Tirade cigar is by Oveja Negra, whose brands also include Black Label Trading Company and Black Works Studio. The stick sports a dark San Andres Mexican wrapper hiding an Ecuadorian binder and Nicaraguan, Dominican fillers. The bold cigar stood up well to the equally robust beer. The matching color schemes of the beer and cigar labels were a coincidence I noticed when staging the photograph.

The long weekend culminated, like many of our fall trips, with a college football tailgate and game. I might be accused of looking forward to the tailgate cigar as much as the game itself. This pre-game celebration featured an old favorite, Fratello Navetta Inverso.

The Navetta Inverso puts a Nicaraguan Habano wrapper over an Ecuadorian binder and Nicaraguan and Dominican fillers. The cigar has cedar and earth notes, with hints of sweetness. Some subtle pepper makes the occasional appearance as well.

After a long weekend featuring an abundance of good smoke, drink, and food, the return to the work routine was surprisingly bearable. It also made me start planning how to use up the rest of those days before January 1.

Cheers!

Highland Gaelic Ale

Here's another one of the local beers I enjoyed while vacationing in North Carolina recently. During dinner at the Red Drum Taphouse I enjoyed a pint of Highland Brewing Gaelic Ale.

Gaelic Ale pours a dark copper-brown color. There's a frothy white head that hangs around for a good portion of the drink. The aroma has sweet caramel notes. The flavor is sweet, bready malt. There's a mild citrus flavor in the back as well, but this is a malty beer foremost. The mouthfeel is thick and "chewy." The sweet malt lingers in the finish. This is a smooth drinking and refreshing red ale.

And the Natty Bo glass? This logo glass was ubiquitous at the restaurants we visited in the Outer Banks. At another stop my New Belgium Ranger IPA was served in the same style glass. My guess is the local distributor is providing the glassware to its customers.

Read a report on a previous visit to Red Drum here.

Highland St. Terese's Pale Ale

During our recent trip to the Outer Banks of North Carolina, we took the opportunity to try some new beers, and to revisit some old favorites. One of the beers we revisited this trip was Highland Brewing St. Terese's Pale Ale.

St. Terese's Pale Ale pours a golden-copper color with a short-lived white head. The aroma is faint, with mild notes of citrus and caramel. This American Pale Ale exhibits a good balance of bitter citrus with sweet malt flavor. The finish is slightly sweet and lingers in the mouth. Mouthfeel is thin with moderate carbonation

Highland's interpretation of the American Pale Ale is mild in comparison to some other popular pale ales, but that doesn't mean it's lacking in flavor or enjoyability. I seek out Highland Brewing beers every time we visit North Carolina, and St. Terese's Pale Ale is one of my favorites. At just 5.2% ABV it's not technically a session beer, but still on the low range for American Pale Ales. It's a perfect accompaniment to a sunny afternoon spent sitting on the deck overlooking the ocean waves.

Highland Black Mocha Stout

When I posted recently about local winners at the GABF I also mentioned that Black Mocha Stout from Highland Brewing in Asheville, NC had been awarded a Silver medal in the American Stout category. This award peaked my interest as I had a couple bottles of this beer waiting to be tasted. Now, I figure it is only fair to report back on the experience since Colleen and I enjoyed them earlier this week.

Black Mocha Stout pours nearly black, just showing some dark red at the edges. There's a thin, short-lived tan head. The aroma is dark chocolate and coffee with a faint bit of citrus hops in the background. Our bottles had been refrigerated and the aromas weren't apparent until the beer had warmed a bit. The flavor is dark cocoa and pleasantly bitter. I detected a sweeter, milky chocolate in the background as the beer warmed. The dark, roasted malt flavor lingers in the aftertaste. There's a moderate carbonation level and the mouthfeel is on the thin side.

Highland Black Mocha Stout proved to be a nice compliment to a cool Fall evening. At 5.60% ABV it would be easy have a few of these in a sitting. Alas, the fridge is bare.

Local GABF Winners

Well another Great American Beer Festival has come and gone. I didn't go to Denver, but was fun to attend vicariously through various craft beer blogs. Those of us enjoying our beer at home were also able to participate in the "not at GABF" Twitter stream. We even got to peak in on the gatherings at Falling Rock Tap House via their pub cam. This year's winners were announced on Saturday afternoon. 2902 beers were judged this year and 223 medals plus three Pro-Am medals were awarded. Many of our local breweries are among the winners.

Starr Hill Brewing of Crozet, VA. won a Silver medal for The Love, in the South German-Style Hefeweizen category. Also, in the Pro-Am category, Mark Thompson of Starr Hill and Fredericksburg resident Lyle Brown brought home a Silver for Lyle's Bamberg Hellerbock. Congratulations guys!

Our friends in Maryland put on a good showing as well. Flying Dog Ales in Frederick was awarded Gold for Dogtoberfest in the German-Style Märzen category. Flying Dog also received a Silver medal in American-Style Amber Lager for Old Scratch Amber Lager. Rock Bottom Brewery in Bethesda made a good showing with Silver for Right On Rye and a Gold for their Highland Courage Scottish Ale. I've never had either of the Rock Bottom beers so it would seem a drive up to Bethesda is in order. Rock Bottom and the Rock Bottom Brewing Team was deemed the Large Brewpub and Large Brewpub Brewer of the Year. Hugh Sisson and the gang at Clipper City in Baltimore received a Bronze for Clipper City BaltoMärzHon and a Silver for Clipper City Pale Ale. Capital City Brewing in D.C. took a Gold for their Honey Lager in the Specialty Honey Beer category.

Further afield, I was pleased to see that the Black Mocha Stout from Highland Brewing in Asheville, NC received a Silver medal. Highland beers aren't distributed locally, and we always look for them when we travel south. I happen to have on hand a couple of bottles of the Black Mocha Stout that we brought back from our recent trip to the Outer Banks. I'm looking forward to opening them even more now.

Congratulations to all of the winners.

You can download the complete GABF awards list here. A searchable database of the awards is here. How did your favorite breweries do?

End of the Celebration (Ale)

We finished off the last of the 2007 Sierra Nevada Celebration Ale this weekend. We drank some last night and there was one bottle left in the fridge today. Colleen enjoyed it with the Chicken Peanut Satay dish she prepared for dinner while I had a Kashmir IPA from Highland brewing. These two IPA's went extremely well with both the main dish and the homemade fudge we had for dessert. I've noticed on several occasions recently that the spicy hop flavor of an IPA will compliment the sweetness of a good chocolate quite nicely.

It's one of the the sad truths we have to accept with seasonal beers, eventually you will drink the last one. The good news is there's always another seasonal beer coming along to take its place!

Highland Cold Mountain Winter Ale

Highland Cold Mountain Winter Ale is another one of the beers my brother in-law brought up from North Carolina when he visited. Highland's St. Therese's Pale Ale is one of my favorite American Pale Ales, and I was looking forward to trying the brewery's Winter beer.

Cold Mountain Winter Ale comes in a 1 liter flip-top bottle. The bottle opens with an audible "pop" releasing a wisp of carbonated air. The pour is a dark reddish-amber with a very thick, pillowy beige head. As the head slowly fades plenty of lacing is left on the glass. The aroma of cinnamon is immediately noticeable. As the beer warms, nutmeg and caramel notes appear. The taste matches the aroma preview with cinnamon being the strongest spice noted. There are some nutmeg, caramel and vanilla flavors too. This beer really needs to be at room temperature to loosen the flavors. The initial cold pour had us wondering about the presence of spices. I didn't notice much in the way of hops. Overall, the spices were subdued. I presume the brewer is going for a wassail-type beer here, but this left me wanting just a bit more in the way of stronger spices and more kick.

As a Winter beer, Cold Mountain Ale seemed very similar to so many Fall pumpkin beers. The ABV isn't noted but I think that is on the low side of many Winter beers. Not a bad beer, but certainly not as outstanding as I had hoped.