Highland Brewing Company is a mainstay of the Asheville, North Carolina craft beer scene and it’s a company with a solid portfolio of annual and seasonal brews. One of its popular perennial beers is ready for its annual appearance in just a few weeks. The beer is Thunderstruck Coffee Porter, back for another run and with a slightly altered recipe making it even better than before.
Thunderstruck Coffee Porter is brewed in collaboration with Dynamite Roasting Company and this year’s beer will made using two coffee infusions. The Highland Brewing crew visited Dynamite Roasting in August, 2016, for a tasting/evaluation of the different roasts. The goal was to find the best coffee roasts to use in the brewing of Thunderstruck Coffee porter and Highland Brewmaster Hollie Stephenson was quick to note that the tasting processes for evaluating coffee and beer have many similar characteristics.
“There are some really cool parallels in the sensory evaluation of coffee and beer. I’m now able to experience my second favorite beverage with the same amount of depth that I enjoy a good beer”, says Stephenson.
The Highland team wound up selecting a dark roast Mexican blend for the brewhouse addition with a lighter Honduran coffee blend for the post fermentation. To ensure that the coffee is at the pinnacle of taste, Dynamite grinds the coffee in the morning of each brewing day, delivering it to Highland at the peak of its freshness. This extra effort shines through in the finished product: A clean, robust coffee addition to an already well balanced porter.
Thunderstruck Coffee Porter will be distributed in bottles to places where Highland Brewing beer is presently sold. To celebrate the annual launch of this seasonal favorite, Highland Brewing has a special release party planned at the Highland Brewing Tasting Room on October 14th, starting at 4pm. Along with the ceremonial first keg tapping, guests can enjoy live music and food from area vendors. And before departure, Highland Brewing will have Thunderstruck Coffee Porter bottles and packages of Dynamite Roasting Coffee for to- go purchase. Following the party, Highland Brewing will donate one dollar from the sale of each glass of Thunderstruck Coffee Porter at the event to the Southern Appalachian Highlands Conservancy.
Look for Thunderstruck Coffee Porter starting in October and if you live in or near Asheville, consider a visit to the brewery for the October 14 party. This year’s version with its dual coffee infusions is going to be even better than those of the past so get your hands on some Thunderstruck Coffee Porter and celebrate the annual appearance of this prized Highland Brewing release.
To learn more about Highland Brewing, be sure to visit online at www.highlandbrewing.com To keep up on social media, follow these links:
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/HighlandBrewingCompany
Twitter https://twitter.com/HighlandBrews
Instagram https://www.instagram.com/highlandbrewing/
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