Brew'd & Circus
Highlands Hollow Brewhouse

Draft at Highlands Hollow. Right on the edge of amber and dark golden, off-white foamy head, lacing all the way down. Sweet, malty aroma, brown bread. Taste is malty and sweet, toasty, creamy. Solid amber

not even totally positive this is a lager, its a bit of everything and it tastes like some lager yeast, feels cold conditioned, they didnt offer much of a description there, but its cool to see a new one in here, pretty much always the same bag of tricks up here so i was intrigued by this. its definitely hoppy, it has a copper color and some malt character, and then this yeast element, so it kind of plays in a few different style spaces, and has the same house beer vibe that all their stuff has, to me a mark of endearment not a criticism. there are some fruity hops coming through the toasted and slightly caramelized malt complexion, i get berries and a light tropical note along with pine forest northwestern character, unexpectedly hoppy, but without much bitterness in the flavor, all dry hops it seems. the yeast hits almost english, its bready and with this fuller malt it almost dips into an english mild space or esb. the hops though make it more american, and it kind of has a hoppy red ale or lager vibe, seems lagered anyway, dry at the end for its color. i like that this doesnt quite neatly fit as any one style and that it still has a strong flavor identity. it has nice balance, a cool hop profile, and is unexpected through and through. a little candied note in the middle, a bit of an oily feel from the hops but still only medium bodied, a bit weird overall and a touch under carbonated but i dug it! hopefully they get some more new ones popping as well, i like the innovation!