Thunderstruck
Highland Brewing

Appearance: Dark brown, mousse-like khaki colored head with great retention.

Aroma: Roasted malt and roasted coffee beans.

Flavor & Aftertaste: Roasted malt and roasted coffee beans. Some faint cocoa. Dry. Moderate bitterness.

Mouthfeel: Full bodied, soft and creamy. Drying. Long finish.

Overall: Well made, straight forward Porter with added coffee flavor. It quite dry. Provides roasted malt and coffee bean flavor. Baker's chocolate-like bitterness that is not harsh. Long finish. Perfect breakfast beer.

Look: Motor oil black with a very subtle light brown glow around the edges if held in direct sunlight. Generates a one finger khaki colored head of foam that laces the glass well. Average head retention.

Aroma: Fudge, milk chocolate. praline cookie, wafer cookies. Iced coffee.

Taste: Really tasty. Showcases mostly roasted malt flavors. Upfront; there are some notes of bittersweet dark chocolate covered wafer cookies. It goes slightly dry and ashy (in a pleasant way) midpalate with flavors of powdered cocoa and coffee liquor. Ends on a really creamy, but still bitter and dark flavor of toasted, freshly baked multi-grain bread.

Feel: Silky and rich, without being too sticky or coating the tongue in an overtly saccharine blanket. Low carbonation.

Overall: Definitely going to be a new beer in my season rotation, looking forward to next years release but until then I'm going back to the store to get more. It's really, really good. Support Asheville breweries folks, they are still hurting from hurricane Helene.

Roasty, toasty, coffee goodness. The porter base is lovely and the overlying coffee adjunct tastes natural. It all meshes well in a lovely dark package.

Pour it in a glass and breathe it in. I missed it last year, somehow, but not this year.

 

Given as a six-pack of 12oz bottles to me by a friend. Poured into a nonic pint glass.

L - Deep dark black, with a chestnut aura. A two-finger tan head tops it all. Excellent lacing.
S - Baking chocolate, dark roast coffee, and earth. Super roasty.
T - Starts off with darker, toasted malts. Brown bread. Toasted walnut. The flavors evolves into a bitter black coffee, getting more and more roasted as it weans into a dry cacao finish.
F - Full-bodied, with plenty of carbonation. Super drinkable. Filling, yet clean.
O - This isn't the first time I've had this, but this is my first formal review for it. If there were one word to describe this brew, it'd be "toasty"! Bitter - yet justified - notes of unsweet cacao & black dark-roast coffee combine in an objectively pretty good brew. My only criticism is that this could've also been accomplished by just using super toasted malt - no need for the coffee adjunct, which led it to be more focused on the bitterness of the coffee rather than the full flavor and body of the brew itself. I do appreciate that they at least went with one of the best local coffee roasters - Dynamite Coffee Co. - for the beans used. I'm not going to turn one down, but I won't go out of my way to get this one. Worth a try, for sure!

12 ounces, bottled 11/10/2022, in a Guinness glass.

Solid black coffee color with a tan malted 1f fluffy cap. Wide rings of lacing.

Dark roast coffee aroma up front with roasted malt underneath. Strong and fresh.

Full on coffee flavor, breakfast blend and French roast mix. Roast malt char and lightly sweetened.

Medium bodied cup of black coffee in beer.

My review centers on the coffee factor, but it’s a beer, tried and true. Feel, body, and drinkability are all there at 5.8% abv. As porters go, I find it very good.

DATED FILLED ON 12/01/21, poured into glass. deep dark ale, low tan head
Smells amazing- dark roast malt and coffee. Incredible.
Taste is perfect porter with a coffee influence in it. Nothing too over the top or fake, just perfectly blended and light and clean beyond belief. Such a chuggable porter, it's nearly perfect if not. Oh yes.

 

 

 

 

 

12 oz. Bottle dated 10/6/20

Jet black with copious fine tan head. Full stiff lacing curtains.
Strong coffee, caramel, and roast malt and a light char scent.
Coffee, vanilla, cocoa, tobacco, nut flavors.
Nice bitter hop spice, exceptional carbonation, medium body. Well balanced. Great depth of flavor for the ABV. Reinforces my favorable opinion of Highland porters and stouts.

From a 12oz bottle picked up in SC. Solid black with a finger of tan head. Smells of coffee and roasted malt. Full bodied and smooth. Roasted malt, coffee, and vanilla flavors with some bitterness on the finish. Only 5.8% but feels similar to some stronger beers. Nice!

 

Picked up as part of a mixed 12 pack from Ingles market 12-19-20 for $16.97. Filled on 10-29-20; consumed on 12-23-20.

Beer poured dark brown with an okay light tan head with the original pour.

Nose has hints of light roasted malts and coffee.

Taste is a coffee forward malt base that is hopped nicely to balance the sweetness and astringency i sometimes detect in the style.

Mouthfeel is fuller than normal for the style, medium bodied and smooth.

Overall a nice tasty brew that hits the spot on a cool December late afternoon!

Pours a nice solid jet black color with a nice head and lacing
Aroma has coffee and caramel hints
The taste follows the nose with a coffee and caramel flavor
A light bodied decently carbonated beer
A well done Porter

Damned solid coffee porter...after the powerful coffee notes, chocolate makes its presence known , as does a hint of vanilla, though less so. Sessionable at just 5.9%, this makes a great addition to your holiday drinking card. Nice little touch of hops in the finish. Great effort from Highland.

Appearance: Pours coffee colored with a two finger ecru head; excellent retention and squiggles of lace

Smell: Coffee prominent with roast (verging on char) and chocolate tones

Taste: A lot of roast and ash, up front, with the coffee emerging; some chocolate in the middle joins the coffee but the lingering sensation is from the char

Mouthfeel: Medium body with moderate carbonation

Overall: Just a bit too over-roasted for my palate; the more subtle flavors are overwhelmed