New Holland Existential Hopwine

Brewed by New Holland Brewing Company
Style: Barley Wine
Holland, Michigan USA

Tap at the Happy Gnome. Ruddy amber and thin white silk. A presumptuous perfume amalgam of cotton candy, saffron, brown sugar and floral hop liqueur in the aroma. Lightly medicinal.

Flavor is a chewy, resinous and alcoholic syrup. Floral hops and bourbon-like intimations of vanilla, cream candies and oak linger at the extremes of bitterness and sweetness, while a ubiquitous, bland alcoholic obesity fills the middle quite namelessly. Ugly. Wholly medicinal.

Palate is syrupy, slick and hot; carbonation stands no chance; finishes on an astringent burn of alcohol and celery salt, with a lingering semi-bittered sweetness of cotton candy and wet grasses. Obnoxious.

22 oz. bottle on 6/21/08. Clear orange/amber under a spare head that defies logic and persists for a quite a while, leaving a spotty, slippery lace. Malty aroma with caramel and dark fruit arrives early, trailing behind it some floral and citrus hops.

Medium to full body, very soft carbonation, viscous and resinous palate. The heavy sweetness of the malts soon succumbs to the aggressive hop bitterness which lingers in the long finish.

Borders between a barley wine and an imperial IPA, a distinction that remains a mystery to me. Big, bold, alcoholic, a real monster.

ruby and brown with only mild head. moutfeel is thick. flavor of caramel malt and wheat. the caramel provides the initial sweetness, but the wheat ends of lessening the flavor instead of adding to the complexity. some hop bitterness. not a huge fan of the wheatwine in general, but this version is better than others i have had

Bottle 22oz: Pours a hazy orange color that has a light citrus smell to it. Tastes extremely hoppy with notes of grapefruit and orange. I was expecting it to be an IPA of some sort but its good as a Barley wine....better even.

Bottle, pours a hazy orange amber. Aroma is sweet hoppy. Flavor is soapy malty with a punch of hops. End is bitter. Strong notes of alcohol. This is a good American Barley Wine, but there are better

Bomber shared by a friend. Nice looking, dark amber pour with minimal carbonation and no lacing to speak of. Very strong grassy hops in the aroma, and my first thought was that this is yet another strong ale seeking to emulate Double Bastard. It really doesn’t have the malts or the complexity to stand up as a barleywine to me. And even the hops are slightly one-dimensional, something accentuated by the thin body and the boozy flavor. Not bad, I suppose.

Bottle: Beautiful reddish orange color with a decent tan head...good lacing. Aroma has notes of orange rind, peaches and mangoes along with hints of caramel malt and floral hops. The hops seemed to have died down a bit since the first time I tried this, but it doesn’t deter from the great brew that it ultimately is now. Thick, sticky mouth feel leads to flavors of candied sugar, caramel, dark malts and sweet, sticky hops. Good shit right here.

This bomber poured a copper color, with a minimal head. The alce around the rim lasts though. There is a real heavy mouth feel, almost syrupy. the aroma is a mix of hop and malt. There is a nice malt finish.