Black Isle "High-Lights"

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Thanks to Martin D from Untappd for the photo, all the other ones on the internet were crap.
 
Welcome back to Booze Reviews! I return to you with another beer from Beer 52, this time with product from the Black Isle Brewery, from Inverness.  

This beer is a part of the "Celtic Nations" collection, the September collection from Beer 52. As per the name, all of the beers included are from ancient Celtic nations; Scotland, Ireland, Wales, Cornwall and the Isle of Mann. From the map page in the included magazine, you can also see that one of the included breweries in based in Galicia in Northern Spain. Prior to reading seeing this, and the research I subsequently did due to confusion, I learnt that Galicia gets its name from the Gallaeci, a Celtic tribe that lived in that area of Northern Spain in the Late Bronze-Age. I must admit that I then went down a bit of a rabbit hole reading about the various tribal cultures that lived in the region in the Bronze-Age and Iron-Age, but honestly what can you expect from an Archaeologist. Let me tell you I did not expect to spend my time researching a beer review reading about ancient Celtic cultures, but my opinion this beer of this beer, despite it being Scottish not Galician, is improved.

Now on to the actual beer I'm drinking. The company "Black Isle" is Scottish, and pride themselves on being Scotland's only 100% organic brewery, having held these standards since it they opened in 1998. Recently, they have achieved "B Corp" status, meaning that they have met a very rigorous set of standards relating to sustainability, which is a good thing to see. Strangely, this beer is not listed on Black Isle's website. This is likely due to it being a limited-edition beer to celebrate this year being their 25th anniversary. I didn't learn this is not from them however, but rather from Beer 52's website, where it is listed with "Anniversary" in its name. Maybe it isn't on their website due to it being sold out?

So, what does it taste like? It's a little strange to be honest. Not unpleasant, just strange. It has a very forward hoppy flavour, that I guess could be the "crisp" description that's mentioned on the can. After that strong front note, it mellows dramatically into what I can only describe as "generic lager taste", nothing strong at all, just what I would say the general aftertaste of all lagers averaged out would be. I don't know how happy Black Isle would be with that description, but it's the best way that I can think to describe it. Whatever it is, it isn't the "biscuit" taste that the can states it is.

Would I drink it again? Yeah sure. Like with the beer from Whiplash, it's not something that I'd ever buy myself, but if it was given to me, or it was the only thing on offer I'd happily drink a pint or two. I wouldn't buy it if there was a large selection. I guess this is my way of saying that it's not awful, just not that much to my taste.

(AUTHORS NOTE – I know I said at the start of these beer reviews that I don't like beers that aren't lagers, and that the previous two reviews have been pretty neutral. This is because I am picking through the box of beers that I have, and I'm trying to pick ones that I think I'll like the most. Therefore, the subsequent reviews to this will likely be more negative (unless I have some kind of IPA awakening in the next few weeks). I hope you look forward to my suffering.)


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