High & Mighty XPA

12oz brown bottle from Florian’s. Murky amber-yellow body with a half inch of off-white head. Caramel malty sweetness and piney citrussy hops play equal parts in the aroma. Apricot dominates the flavor, with undertones of pith and caramel malt. On the lighter side of medium-bodied. Very tasty, pleasing, and drinkable. I’m impressed.

Have had this in bottles many times, most recently I bought a six pack in mid-December.
And, this one’s my 400th rating from a Massachusetts brewer.
I think this is a fitting beer for that rating, as this is definitely a very forward-thinking beer.
First, it embodies the true craft, being unpasteurized and unfiltered. So right there you’ve got the basics down. (I might add it’s dryness as another trait of true craft, but that’s just opinion)
But second, and more importantly, I think this ahead of its time in its simplicity and moderate alcohol content while still preserving tons of flavor and aroma. I would like to think, and definitely hope, that craft brewing will regain some ground in the mid gravity sector and this is a great start and fitting that the Will Shelton, who sponsors another wonderful mid-gravity brewer, Cantillon, makes this.
Big beers certainly have their place, but to me, it just looks like they are taking up 95% or more of brewers’ interests these days. For sure, brewers are still making all kinds of low and mid grav beers, but most don’t spend the time on them that they do on the big ones, and that is the key problem.
Anyways, tying this back to Massachusetts, and even New England in general, it seems this has always been a great area for low to mid gravity beer. We just need more bottling brewers. Will at Cambridge is doing many many wonderful mid gravity beers but none of them get bottled and thus none of the exposure. I really think that all it takes is one outstanding bottling brewer to spark an outbreak of bottled, excellent craft beer. Massachusetts sorely needs it. Hopefully Will puts some more beers out with this line (though it’s too bad Paper City is the only logical place to brew them at).
Earlier Rating: 11/13/2004 Total Score: 1.7
2003 bottle. Looks like, smells like and tastes like the most pale malt you’ve ever had with old, bready, moldy hops. Watery, lightly bubbly and yellow. Papery, apple cider is this? seriously, you wonder what they were thinking, what an AWFUL beer. poor ingredients. The only thing I can say is that it has somewhat more body than budweiser. Ale yeast should not be used for things like this. Please stop making this. . . . .

A very fine drinking beer. It tastes like the answer to a question that should have been asked a long time ago: What beer is there that has the full-flavored hoppiness and clean non-pelletized hop flavor, without the lingering bitterness? I like this stuff, it is somewhat unique. And I am surprised I haven’t tasted one like it before. The closest thing I can think of is that XX Bitter from Belgium. Both brews are very clean finishing but full-flavored. I also detect a bit of grapefruit and mustiness in the more subtle notes. I like this stuff. This stuff is a knockout with spicy homemade beef jerky. Wow.

Pours a clouded gold with a nice creme head that falls fairly fast. Nose is faint. Mild citrus hops. Slight syrup edge. Slight bark tone. Flavor is very tangy on the end. Bitter gets in on the action as well. But overall it seems to stay pretty smooth and even. A nice flavor profile with good character. Feel is a bit meaty on the tongue with a good carbonation. Overall very drinkable. Smooth and even, but with a definite character to it that keeps it interesting. Well worth trying I say.

Opaque dirty dark yellow body with an initially medium beige head with medium retention. Pears and citrus on the nose. Rather fruity and yeasty for a Pale Ale with notes of citrus fruits skin and pears. A little white pepper. Thick round body. I’ve got a hard time describing the hop profile other than it’s a million miles away from a typical Pale Ale hoppiness. Finale is round, soft, juicy and with a mild but flavourful bitterness. Extremely refreshing. This is a very original beer that I have trouble putting into words. And with a name that reminds me of how I felt in my 20s, although only half of it was true.

My Bottom Line:
Fresh grassy hops lend their spiciness and citrusy fruitiness to well-balanced biscuity maltiness. This is a smashing quencher of an unfiltered Pale Ale.

Further Personal Perceptions:
-A sheet of foam covers the turbid beige-yellow.
-Some of the hoppiness somewhat recalls noble hops, but of higher alpha acid levels.
-The overall hoppiness plesantly lingers as well.
-The fluffy effervescence is comfortable.

Bottle.

Bottle courtesy of a trade with Blankboy (thanks!). Ok, so I got this from Paul’s Friday mroning before work and then I forgot about it - it sat in my warm glove box for over 48 hours. I put it in the fridge 3 hours ago so here goes: pours a nice hazy dark yellow with a good sized small thick white head with great lacing. Aroma - nice subtle grapefruit and pine notes. Taste - mmmm, tasty! Bitter grapefruit up front, nice tasty light malt, long grapefruit / lemon and some pine hops in the end. Quenching and very flavourful. I’d say this borders on IPA territory, but I don’t really care - it is a damn good pale and I get get more across the border with minimal effort - Yay! And it holds up well when you neglect and forget about it...

New brewery being carried by Premier Gourmet. Foaming head on light golden colour. Hoppy aroma. Smooth drinking and very drinkable pale, without lingering bitterness, a bit of flavour other than bitterness is nice. Good session ale.Decent carbonation and mouthfeel.