Highland Cold Mountain Winter Ale
Our ever-changing spiced winter seasonal. A tasty brew that complements all your holiday festivities. It is typically malty in body, lightly hopped, and rounded out with spices that we vary from year to year.
3.6
373 reviews
Asheville, United States
Community reviews
A very good winter beer. Tastes a lot like Anderson Valley's Winter Solstice. Pours a clear Amber with a tan head. Smells of vanilla and Amber malts. Taste is very good, lots of vanilla. Had in the bottle.
Clear mahogany pour with a khaki head and good retention. Smooth, dark, lightly roasted caramel malt flavor. Good lacing. Minimal spice taste and a little dark fruit. Tastes like a doppelbock light. I could do without the dark fruit.
Appearance: Slightly hazy darker copper brown. Half a finger of white foam.
Nose: Malt forward caramel, toasted wheat, vanilla, ginger, cinnamon and roasted nuts.
Taste: Nutty, winter spice, sweet caramel and a bit of plum. Restrained earthy hops.
Body: medium and unremarkable.
Parting thoughts: An above average winter warmer. Right amount of spice for my liking.
22 ounce bottle into pint glass; no bottle dating, but is a recent seasonal release. Pours crystal clear deep ruby red/brownish color with a 1-2 finger dense light khaki head with good retention, that reduces to a small cap that lingers. Nice spotty soapy lacing clings down the glass, with a moderate amount of streaming carbonation retaining the cap. Aromas of big caramel, brown sugar, brown bread, toffee, vanilla, nutmeg, cinnamon, hazelnut, ginger, and toasted biscuit; with lighter notes of chocolate, cocoa, raisin, plum, berries, herbal, floral, and yeast/toasted earthiness. Damn nice aromas with great balance and complexity of dark/bready/light roast malt, spices, and light fruity yeast/earthy hop notes; with great strength. Taste big caramel, brown sugar, brown bread, toffee, vanilla, nutmeg, cinnamon, hazelnut, ginger, and toasted biscuit; with lighter notes of chocolate, cocoa, raisin, plum, berries, herbal, floral, and yeast/toasted earthiness. Light herbal hop and spice bitterness on the finish; with lingering notes of caramel, brown sugar, brown bread, toffee, vanilla, cinnamon, hazelnut, toasted biscuit, light chocolate/fruitiness, and herbal/yeast/toasted earthiness on the finish for a while. Great complexity, robustness, and balance of dark/bready/light roast malt, spices, and light fruity yeast/earthy hop flavors; with a great malt/bitter/spice balance, and zero cloying sweetness after the finish. Light dryness from hop/spice bitterness as well. Medium carbonation and body; with a very smooth, moderately creamy/bready/grainy, and slightly sticky/chalky mouthfeel that is nice. Zero warming alcohol as expected of 5.9%. Overall this is an excellent winter warmer. All around great complexity, robustness, and balance of dark/bready/light roast malt, spices, and light fruity yeast/earthy hop flavors; very smooth and easy to drink. Follows the English style for the most part. Great malt complexity and underlying fruity yeast notes; nice spice balance without being overwhelming. A very enjoyable offering.
Brown in appearance with ruby hues. Aromas and flavors of nuts, roast and plums.
Bottle. Murky brown with thin beige head. Malt aroma with some spiciness. Taste includes caramel and some dark fruitiness.
bomber brewed on 10/27/2015 - nose is spicebread, ginger, and biscuity. Sip impressed me as I raised a reverent eyebrow. It added chocolate, vanilla and mandarin peels. Definitely nutty. A little flat. Grassy finish.
Poured a red color with an off white head. Aroma was of caramel, some dark fruit and spices. Flavor pretty similar, not a bad winter warmer, but not my style.
Bottle at home in snifters. ours a deep brown with some head and mild lace. Aroma is caramel, spices, toffee, walnuts. Taste is nutty, caramel, toffee, winter spices, and cocoa. Medium light body. Easy to drink but packed full of flavors. Light booze for a WW style.
Draft pours brown with a tan head. Aroma of malts, spices and toffee. Taste is cinnamon, ginger, malts and grains.
Bottle from Hop City Birmingham. Pours dark copper with a beige head. Aroma of malt, syrupy and lots of spices. Tastes of nutmeg, cinnamon and vanilla bean followed by hints of dark, tart fruits. After taste of vanilla and maple syrup. Medium bodied and medium carbonation. Goes down smooth. Very good beer.
Big blue bottle .. Low carbonation .. Toffee, copper, and mildly spiced Xmas cake .. Pretty tasty, reminds me of a bitter .. . . Drop the soap and get a free workout
Draft. Deep amber body with a frothy, beige head. Spicy aroma of cinnamon, all-spice, bread, toasted grain, caramel. The flavor is moderately sweet and lightly bitter. It finishes lightly to moderately sweet and lightly to moderately bitter. Medium body, watery texture, lively carbonation. Aftertaste of spice and a bit of paper.
2015 vintage on tap at Tupelo Honey 10 oz pour into a thistle glass with no head space, so good thing Cold Mountain only had about 1/3 finger head. The aroma was instantly rewarding, a little bit floral adn a number of other things I couldn’t put my finger on at the time, I was intrigued to pin down what I was smelling. The flavors were incredible, still a little floral with clear spice, but still i was having trouble pinpointing them, and a little fruitiness. Complex for sure, balanced intricately in terms of subtlety, At the time I thoguht the fruitiness might be something in the direction of blueberry and later that evening I thought the floweriness was like lavender and the spices included very tiny mild bits of sage and thyme. I read the label after immediately buying a bottle and it says hazelnut, cranberry, raspberry, cinnamon and licorice. Of that what I tasted was raspberry and cinnamon. I bet the yeast created some other spice flavors because it seemed more complex than the ingredients belied.
Pretty much no smell, but quite a medium bold flavor! Quite Nice spice...like nutmeg perhaps? Smooth finish...gets a touch more watery with time...but nice flavor...needs more smell though! Should be a 3+ if it had smell x2 11/24/15 to 2/7/22 smell is spices like nutmeg but yes, very mild, mmm malt is medium, malty, and flavorful...lightly sweet with what seems like nutmeg... one dimensional outside of those two flavors...flavors nice and mouthfeel and boldness solid...so good on those fronts...0.4 better rating very nice for what it is...a solid beer that's an easy drinker...Had at old mill brewpub for lunch as pandemic still carries on amongst the unvaxxed with 901k US deaths... Omicron varient still spreading quickly...and I even got it from Megan a couple weeks ago, but was triple vaxxed and it was pretty much nothing
Pours dark Amber with a sizzling white foam. Aroma of spices and sweetness. Smooth flavor with notes of wheat , sweet caramel maltiness, and a slight bitterness. Not bad, not great.
Pours a hazy dark amber/copper color with a one finger beige head that slowly fades into a lasting ring. Sporadic spotty lacing left behind.
Earthy, leathery malt aroma with an odd syrupy medicinal presence along with some dark fruit and heavy spices. Hints of nutmeg, cinnamon and vanilla bean followed by cherry juice, plum and raspberry.
Medium bodied wih a dry, medicinal flavor along with a heavy vanilla and spice presence. Lots of dark fruit and sweet caramel malt sweetness with notes of hazelnut, toffee, raspberry, cherry juice and lots of vanilla. Floral/potpourri like with zesty cinnamon and clove spiciness. Really weird combination of flavors. Not bad but a few ounces was more than enough for me.
Bottle from J Emerson. Copper with nice head and lacing. Smells like raisin bread and maybe a little like play doh. Very sweet, almost like cream soda. Creamy bodied, too. A little bitter/sour creeps in at the end.
March madness 2015. This is for the 2008 version. So this has aged quite a bit. The aroma is complex with limited hops but interesting malt, vanilla and caramel. The taste is smooth but getting toward the wine side at this age. The spices are very well blended into the overall flavor.
Keg at Mamacitas, Asheville - wating for WW to open, 17/02/15 2014 beer.
Clear chestnut brown with a decent off white covering.
Nose is malt, dark fruit rinds, toasted brown sugar, light spice, biscuit.
Taste comprises light cocoa rub, spice, cinammon, caramel.
Medium bodied, fine carbonation, semi drying close.
Ok inoffensive offering.
This is a very dark beer that is good on cold nights. Has a distinct malty taste. Good aroma and a creamy head. Nice palate with great overall taste. Well done.
Pours a very clear copper brown with a thin tan head. Medium bodies smooth. Malty fruity aroma. Sweet toasted malt with a bit of a berry finish?
From a bottle shared by Dan. Pours ruby brown with a fizzy off white head. Tastes like sweet dried fruit, sweet malt, toast, bready. Light body and low carbonation. Smells like dried fruits, roasted malt, and sweet chocolate.
Bottle. Pours clear ruby brown with creamy off-white head. Aroma is bready and cereal malts, mixed berries, faint toast, and faint floral notes. Flavor is dry malt base with some dark fruit sweetness, light hops, and faint spice. Medium body and carbonation.
22 ounce bottle. Pours reddish brown with an average tan head. Aroma of malt, spice, and vanilla. Taste is malt, spice, vanilla, and caramel. I thought this was not too spicy. Enjoyed the vanilla. Tasty.
Vince bought me a growler from beverage world. Interesting beer. Not sure how to describe. Spice herb vegetable mix. Odd. Hmm.
Vanilla and caramel with a bit of spiciness. This is really more of a malt beverage at the end of the day. Not my cup of tea if I’m being honest and I actually didn’t come close to finishing the bottle.
Bottle. Brown pour with tan head. Nice spice, chocolate, and Christmas like aromas. Similar spicy flavors, chocolate and roasted tones.
On tap at Joni’s. So not worth the hype, , but decent. Pours copper/ brown with a soapy beige head with staying power. Taste mainly caramel and bready malts and vanilla with some winter spices in there. Not much hops or body to it. Too light for a winter ale. Erring on the sweet side. Sort of peculiar, really. Don’t need any more.
12/2/15 It’s just plain not good. Hats off to them for an incredible marketing effort but it is a thin, watery and synthetic tasting brew. The aftertaste just keeps getting worse as it lingers. Do not like.
Quite a bit of caramel, though light and crisp, and a soft amount of hops. Has a slight spiciness that is reminiscent of cola. All in all, a peculiar beer, but good.