High & Mighty Brewing's Beer of the Gods

By JASON + TODD ALSTRÖM

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When describing a brewery, sometimes it's best to allow the brewer to speak. Referring to High & Mighty's official website: "High & Mighty brews are made with righteous conviction. We're not just brewers -- we're beer-evangelists. We're the Clergy of Zymurgy, the Priests of Yeasts, the Joyful Congregation of High Fermentation. We're High & Mighty, and we're here today to spread the good word, to talk about the Truth. And the Truth, my friends, is that the brewing world has gone to the Devil, and it's almost too late to save it." According to them, the Devil embodies the production of "beer that's 100% alcohol, with so many harsh hops that you'll grow hair on your tongue, and strange ingredients that [were] never meant to be in a brew kettle."

Who's behind all of this righteous smack talk? None other than the Shelton Brothers, a beer importer out of Belchertown who brew High & Mighty under agreement at Holyoke's Paper City Brewery. According to Will Shelton, the H&M brewery was started "as a response to the 'extreme' beer movement -- our effort to bring just a wee bit of sanity back into American brewing." And in the August issue of BeerAdvocate magazine, they acknowledge that the name "High & Mighty" was a fun-loving poke at forum posts made by our very own Todd Alström. Needless to say, we're more than thrilled to inspire such a riposte.

As for Beer of the Gods, it's described as a German Kölsch meets an Altbier, while the High & Mighty website also likens it to a German-style Farmhouse Ale. But is this righteous hybrid at 4.9 percent ABV truly a beer of the gods, or rather from the same extreme beer hell at which it spits? Let's find out.

The Taste

It's an unfiltered offering, hence the cloudy straw-yellow pour topped with healthy white foam. Aroma is slightly musty with notes of apple peel and sour lemon. Light-bodied and coarse on the palate, with astringent hop and grain tannin bites. Hops dominate with a sharp bitterness and a touch of hop oil and leaf. Hosts a grassy edge, apple tartness and citric acidity. The taste is aspirin-y, spicy and occasionally soapy. Very dry throughout, exaggerating the hop characters even more. Biscuity grains toward the finish. It ends bone-dry, chalky, yeasty and tannic, with lingering mineral flavors in the mouth.

Final Thoughts

It does what it says -- in a move ironically extreme -- with aggressive hopping and over-attenuation akin to a German IPA. Although this hybrid doesn't technically exist as a traditional style, we love beer and people who can have fun with it. As far as judging its quality, those who like bone-dry, hopped-up beers will enjoy this (think De Ranke XX Bitter stripped of all sweetness), while others will scratch their heads and hate it. Personally, we dig it, drinking with an open mind and palate.

H&M also brews an Extra Pale Ale (XPA), with plans to release Two-Headed Beast, a joint brewing venture with Ron Jefferies of Jolly Pumpkin Artisan Ales. (Wonder if it's a reference to our two heads? Yeah, we're so flattered.)

FOR MORE INFO: HIGHANDMIGHTYBREWING.COM

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RESPECT BEER.