Highland Brewing Company Gaelic Ale

Highland Brewing Company, based in Asheville, is a relatively large brewery that has a large line-up of year round, seasonal, and one off beers.  Their Gaelic Ale is one of their year round staples.  In fact it was the first beer they produced, it was originally called Celtic Ale but another brewery had trademarked that name.  Enough with the history lesson and on to the beer.  Gaelic Ale is an American Amber with a 5.6% ABV.  It pours a dark amber color just as you would expect from an amber ale and forms a light head. There is a strong citrus hops aroma on the nose. There are some floral notes as well but the word I keep coming back to to describe the aroma is citrus.  A nice hops flavor initially. Strong pine notes which is surprising based on the aroma of this one. The citrus is muted comparatively but still present. The citrus helps balance things out and  makes this easy to drink. A slight hint of the toasted malt flavor presents itself as you continue drinking this beer.  This one has a lot of carbonation as you drink it.  Much more than would be expected based on the volume of head produced.   In fact the carbonation gives it a sweet, acidic flavor there is so much.  This is a nice safe beer.  There isn't too much hops, there aren't weird flavors fighting over each other, and it is very easy to drink.  You can find more information about this one on their website here and general information about their beers here.