New Holland Existential Hopwine

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

Bottle. Aroma of tropical fruits, citrus oils, and sweet, almost rye-ish malt. Flavor very much in the rich caramel/toffee department. this really seems to be a malthead’s dream to me, with only a supporting role played by the citrus/tropical hops, though a supporting role that does add notable fruitiness to the malt. Finishes quite sweet, a touch wearing. Actually pretty tasty, but please don’t name barley wines hopwines, it’s just silly.

On tap at the New Holland brewpub. Golden amber with a slowly fading thin white head. Aroma of citrus, caramel and bready malts. Taste was hoppy, but not as hoppy as I would have liked for a beer qualified as being "Existential". Alcohol, sweet malt, citrus and some toffee join the moderate hop flavor. Some alcohol warming, but the 11.1 abv is hidden decently.

Draft – RFD. Orange, creamy off white head. Soft candy pine and citrus aromas ride swirls of honey raisin bread and caramel. Sweet malt flavors up front warm to a moderate citrusy-pine hop bitterness. A touch of dark fruit rounds this out well. Full bodied and slick, soft carbonation, bittersweet finish. Nice, but certainly not spectacular…

Draught, Boulder Strong Ale Festival. Light golden color. Thin ring of foam. Nose lacks a bit, seems dull & stale. Flavor is very sweet, fruity hoppy, muddled, cloying.

Crushed with Jakebra at BSAF. 10 hop additions my ass! We talking single hop cones here? Not much hops. Not much of anything. Drinkable and unremarkable.

22 oz Bottle. A cloudy amber color with a medium offwhite head that stuck around a while. Lots of lacing. Aroma of grapefruit , floral and citrus hops, caramel, underlying fruity notes, hint of bread like notes with some grain. Full bodied with an average carbonation and hint of alcoholic and dry texture. Moderated bitter flavor with light to moderate sweetness lots of piny and floral hops with a good malt base to balance things out.. Dry and bitter finish. Very nice Barley Wine.

Noted last May 2008, 22 oz bottle: Hazy orange amber w/ a short lived off white head. Piney, grapefrui, and pineapple hops up front and very pungent. Also a bit soapy. Caramel and toasted malts, and an odd papery aroma. Strange, because this was a pretty fresh bottle. Fruity aromas domanated by hops, and a woodsy type aroma. The flavor mimics the aroma with hops being strong and dominant. Slightly resiny and biting (bitter) with a decent toasty and caramel malt to help balance, but the malts fall short. Seems to start out slightly sweet, then finishes lightly bitter, then turns noticeably bitter in the aftertaste, which is all hops. Toasted malt comes in between the last sip and the next. Warming m/f, lightly hot if you will, medium full body, smooth texture, and a low CO2. Very hop dominant, and the malts keep the beer from being completely one dimension. Average IIPA in my mind.

Good balance on this dark pour. Strong Malty earthtones to this hopwine. Strong alcohol afterburn, but paired well with the spicy chicken enchilada dip served on premises. The hop bitterness was not overdone.