Rustic Ridge IPA

Review Date 3/31/2022 By John Staradumsky

  Style: India Pale Ale   Brewery: Highland   Country: USA   State: North Carolina   $ Per OZ: $.12 (B)   ABV: 6.7%

Here’s my dilemma: I bought a bottle of Highland Rustic Ridge IPA, part of the brewery’s Hop Selection Series. This is an IPA that features rotating hop varieties in different batches; it’s also a seasonal beer. Here’s what Highland says on the bottle label:

 Brewed at the peak of harvest season, this ever-evolving IPA highlights the best of our annual hop selection.

Now I love Highland Brewing, I am long on record about that. Highland was one of the first breweries I discovered after moving to Georgia. But Highland, I have to ask: what’s the point of a rotating series IPA when you don’t tell us what rotating hops are in the rotating hop IPA?

Here’s why I say that: There is no indication of the hops used on my bottle of Highland Rustic Ridge IPA. There is no indication of the hops used on the Highland website on their page for Highland Rustic Ridge IPA. There is no indication of the hops used on an official Highland news alert about the release of Highland Rustic Ridge IPA.

What I do know is that Highland Rustic Ridge IPA has an alcohol content of 6.7% by volume and was running $8.99 a six-pack when I bought my single at Total Wine. My bottle is marked filled on 09/14/21 and I drank it on February 27^th of 2022.  

Highland Rustic Ridge IPA pours to a hazy orange color with medium sized head of creamy foam and a nose of dank herbal hops (oregano comes to mind). Taking a sip, the beer is light to medium in body with a smack of citrus, then the vegetal, herbal hops return. They’re dank and bitter and aromatic in the finish.

A tasty beer indeed with I would guess some English and or German hops or hybrids thereof with perhaps some modern American ones, too.

Glad I tried it?  T

Would I rebuy it??