High 5 Lager
Highland Park Brewery

Straight pour from a 16oz can to a stemless wine glass (HPB’s Bottle Friends cat glass). This was canned on March 22, 2019, according to a canning date printed in black ink on the underside of the can (“Canned On 03.22.19”), making this can just over two weeks old at the time of consumption.

Appearance (4.0): This pours out two solid fingers of white, crackly foam with broad, fat bubbles popping happily while the edges cling to the glass with delicate, lacy legs that form a badly broken collar. The body, meanwhile, is a crystal clear, pale gold color, and absolutely beautiful. Ugh, what a looker. Could use more retention, but it’s still gorgeous.

Smell (4.75): Fragrant notes of white grape, sweet pea flowers, gorgeous fresh-cut grass and gooseberry, and extremely delicate notes of pineapple and passionfruit. The malt here is present with very soft aromas of country white bread, common crackers, and dusty barley corns. Some stone fruit like nectarine or peach comes out a bit as it opens up, along with some more clearly-formed passionfruit. I could bury my nose in this.

Taste (4.25): On the palate, it’s juicy and crisp at the same time, with a dry, wet stone finish that’s perfect for the style. It washes in with a slightly bitter, mineral-forward character that calls to mind pinot grigio without the booze or any sweetness, blended with fresh-cut grass. The flavor shifts gears and slides into white flour dumplings, a soft starchiness, and a gentle, clean mixture of underripe white peach, sweet pea, gentle gooseberry, and just a hint of yellow grapefruit. From there, it launches into a moderate but firm bitterness that collects everything dry and clean expressed up to now: yellow grapefruit pith, starchy dumpling, and a prominent mineral note. It dissipates without too much trouble, leaving a dry, clean finish that hangs on for just a minute.

Mouthfeel (4.5): This is light and fun and swishy, dropping in with a grain of carbonation that feels just a tiny bit coarse, but it dissipates softly without too much tingle. It distributes itself evenly across the palate just before the body washes in, laying down a light, soft, smooth feeling before the carbonation accentuates its dryness. The carbonation foams up modestly as it washes out, leaving a clean slate with just hints of grassy and mineral notes.

Overall (4.5): This is, in some ways, not a technically perfect lager, but I think it’s exactly the way I like lagers to be. I could understand if someone wanted the carbonation to be finer and smoother, or the malt to be a little fuller and nuanced. Or, for the dry-hopping to be less pronounced—but that’s not what I want. I love the way this beer is light and crisp, but soft and juicy in turn. I love the dry-hopping, as well as the fact that they didn’t try to blast it into space with hops, either. (Don’t get me wrong though, I love a good IPL.) More than anything, I love that they made a beer that you could sit back and crush, or sit down and parse. Highly recommended, and I hope they make it again.