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I have been following craft beer long enough to have been through the high IBU wars and the high ABV battles so it is with a bit of nostalgia for tgat time that I post about New Holland Brewing’s Dragon’s Milk, Triple Mash a riff on their Dragon’s Milk line that I only just heard about recently. It is a “rich 18.7% ABV Bourbon Barrel Aged Stout” that is released early in the beer calendar year. And I like seeing that breweries are still going big.
Do we need to consider where a holiday ale is from? Does a city without snow build a snowman or does the snow country do it better? Ponder that while you read the description for New Holland’s Holiday Ale.
“This winter warmer is inspired by the festive taste of eggnog and is brewed with milk sugar and enough nutmeg to fill Santa’s sleigh! Post-fermentation, the beer is aged in bourbon barrels for over 3 months for an added kick of bourbon, vanilla and oak. It is sure to warm your spirits and fill you with good cheer!”
Last of the three featured reviews is the famed Bourbon barrel stout from New Holland Brewing, Dragon’s Milk.
The Dragon pours pitch black with a nice tan head to it. Quite nearly the prototypical, approachable bourbon-barrel stout. Slight bourbon nose with a smaller, tiny alcohol burn to it. A little sweet with a hit of vanilla. A little vinous quality as well. It does not taste anyway near 11%. I would have liked to see a little more heft to it.
I should have seen this seltzer coming from a long way off. Just look at the bottom of the cans of New Holland’s Dragon’s Share hard seltzer and you will see that it is aged in bourbon barrels. So you will get orange with bourbon, cherry without bourbon, blackberry with bourbon and original too. I don’t be think it is a great use of a barrel but I guess it is a true differentiation point compared to all the other hard seltzers.
I have started seeing labels with admonitions to wear masks and some are cute but they remind me of so much that is bad about 2020, so this month, let’s get hopeful with…
The color scheme of this stout from New Holland Brewing is simple but eye catching and the clever change of phrase sneaks up on you. When I first saw it, I thought, “hmm, Light at the End of the Tunnel is a cool name..” Then I took a second look and smiled at my mistake.
I have had some fine beers from New Holland but we only get a smattering of their options here in SoCal, which makes this new canned from bourbon barrels White Stout probably something I won’t see on shelves. But if I do, I will pick it up for review. We haven’t had a white stout scene since Naughty Sauce from Noble Ale Works had a heyday years ago.
I have a feeling that Jason Momoa might be on to something or has a crystal ball because anytime that I hear that buildings and land are available, it sets me to thinking that breweries would be well served to subscribe to the theory of “Build it, and they will come”. Detroit has an opportunity to be a brewing destination a la Field of Dreams if they can governmentally help foster it through a regulatory system or at least not hinder it like the city of Los Angeles actively does.
Check out this article from Willamette Week and prepare to be impressed by the discerning taste of the former Khal Drogo.
I,for one, will be rooting him on to succeed.