New Holland Existential Hopwine

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

Pours a slightly cloudy copper color with an off-white head. Bit of a light floral hop aroma, some pepper, some alcohol. Thickish sticky palate. Sweet grassy hop taste to start and it actually gets a bit earthier as the taste goes on. The finish is quite astringent. Not really a focsued BW. Wants to be a DIPA, but not really a defined hop character, just kind of muddled.

22 oz bottle. Lightly hazy amber with a light head. Sweet metallic caramel aroma. Alcohol and citrus with honey. Good. The flavor has caramel and marshmallow with metallic hints. There is alcohol, pine and pineapple citrus. It’s really a very odd flavor combination and kind of muddled but still enjoyable. Full malty sticky body. A fair brew. Strong and flavorful if just a bit odd and messy.

22 ounce bottle from Bello Vino in Ann Arbor, MI (June 2007), imbibed at cellar temperature from a Maudite glass. OK New Holland, I’ve had enough disappointments from you, this one better be good....well it pours nicely enough, murky amber-copper with hints of yeast floating in faint circles, a lovely thick off-white head that slowly decays leaving abundant spidery lacing....the first whiff in the nose is all citruc, sharp grapefruit and oranges, with whispers of caramel showing up speedily afterward, vanilla and ripe sweet cherries, though the sharp orange remains.....the tongue registers a very syrupy, thick, somewhat oily impression, with the citrus acids and flavors pretty nearly drowned in a sea of sludgy vanilla-caramel and mushy malts....this rapidly becomes cloying and difficult to drink, though an interesting smoked hardwood character showing up late keeps up the hopes....but no, this is just a thick, gooey mess, ill-defined resinous hop character bleeding into the caramel and woody elements and losing all definition, ultimately describing a muddy Jackson Pollack swirl with far too much paint, such that the (wet cardboardy) canvas cannot be seen either whole or in parts as anything other than -- muck. I think I’m done with you, NH.

22oz bottle. Aroma of cedar, spruce. deep golden woody appearance. very sweet, lots of malt. slight sake flavor and body. lots of alcohol. hints of grape flavors.

Bottle. Crisp amber body with huge fluffy beige head and decent lacing. Earthy aroma with relatively muted resiny hops, very muted florals and light alcohol, brief glimpse of citric fruit. Gets a touch boozy as it warms. Fairly bitter flavour, earthy caramel malts, boozy malty tang. Medium palate. (3+) Gets quite alcoholic as it warms up. Nice but lacks refinement and the alcohol gets unwieldy at times. Has a lot of potential but does not quite take it to the next level. Would try it again to see though.

Bottle shared with Tom: Amber hue with a big fluffy head and very good lace. The aroma is a bit weird with mint and smoky notes over caramel, toffee, bready vapours. Light apricot and pineapple esters along the way. The taste starts with a lush sweetness with a spicy and peppery finish. Lots of sublime yeast notes, mineral and astringent hops show but are dominated by the sweet malt. The mouth feel is lush and heavy, sugary and slightly alcoholic. A solid brew with room to grow.

Bottle. Lasting, two-finger off-white head. Citrus passionfruit, sticky pineapple and raspberry nose, with a hint of pear. Flavor is fruity- apricot, strawberry and passionfruit hop flavors with slightly sweet malt backbone. Better as it warms; toffee and butter rum flavors come through. Aftertaste is bitterness, light alcohol sting and residual fruitiness. Palate is syrupy, resinous and smooth.

Rusty brown with big tan head. Sweet pineappley tangerine aroma. Intensely stewed hop tea taste. Alcohol is only slightly apparent, and finish is forgiving. $9/22oz