90 Hour Days
Highland Park Brewery

Straight pour from a 16oz can to a stemless wine glass (HPB’s Bottle Friends cat glass). This was canned on May 10, 2019 according to a canning date printed in black ink on the underside of the can (“Canned on 05/10/19”), making this can 11 days old at the time of consumption. Purchased at the brewery three days ago, and it’s been in the fridge since.

Appearance (5.0): This beer pours out two full fingers of creamy, custard-colored foam, dissipating at a leisurely pace, capping a rich, moderately hazy body that’s a deep straw-golden color with rich orange undertones. As the head dies down, it leaves thick, leggy suds and lacing all around the glass, leaving a nearly solid collar tied to a nice, foamy film on top of the body. This is absolutely gorgeous.

Smell (4.5): A soft blend of tangerine and kumquat meet gentle notes of honeydew and gooseberry, all kind of underpinned by a constant sense of champagne mango. You’d be forgiven for overlooking a mix of yeast and grain present here in a different light: wet river stones, pinot grigio or a dry gewürtraminer, paired with porridge and floury pain de campagne crust. I can’t stress how juicy but quietly balanced this beer is.

Taste (4.25): On the palate, the beer pursues more of the lagering- and grain-driven notes rather than the juicy hops: bright mineral tones stop well short of the river stone character noted in the aroma, instead blending organically and pleasingly with a light blend of fresh-cut grass and very soft lemon zest notes. The grain, meanwhile, feels dry and crackery, suggesting floury baking soda biscuit crust and common crackers. Behind all of this, very soft notes of gooseberry, green grapes, underripe pear, and some passionfruit add another dimension, thanks to the hops in the beer, before giving way to kumquat skins, grassy bitterness, and a very gentle, peppery spice note that mix together and slowly fade away. Note: my palate may be a little lupulin-thrashed right now, because I recall more tropical fruit character on the palate the last time I had this beer.

Mouthfeel (4.25): This is delightfully effervescent, with a thin and even layer of small-grained, tingly bubbles distributing itself all across the palate, easily pulling its weight next to a lighter-than-medium-weight body that feels crisp and swishy. The dryness in this beer—provided by dry and crackery malt, and grassy and spritzy hop bitterness—leads the already lean body to finish dry, crisp, and quenching. It feels like it’s lacking a little complexity, but boy it’s a crusher.

Overall (4.25): I’m super into this beer. I don’t think it’s quite as good, technically speaking, as Pleasant Pils, and there’s something untouchable about High Five! Lager, but this is very much up there for Highland Park’s stable of lagers. Truly, I think I’ve loved every lager I’ve had from them in recent memory, and this one is no different: it displays restraint and balance, even while playing with the boundaries of the style, adding delightful hop notes and something unquantifiable stemming from its unfiltered state. I don’t know what to say, other than you should try all of Highland Park’s lagers, and it would make my day if I had a four-pack of any of them—including this one—in my fridge at all times. Highly recommended.