New Holland Blue Sunday

Formerly brewed at New Holland Brewing Company
Style: Sour Ale
Holland, Michigan USA

The cork excitedly flies off into my open palm just before I got the chance to remove it, luckily the beer doesn’t foam over. A very careful pour into my 25cl tulip though produces a five-finger thick, dingy tan colored head the quickly rises two more fingers in height and over-flows my glass. The beer is a very dark, cherry color that shows a lightly hazed, red color when held up to the light. The aroma smells of tart cherry skins, a slightly moldy-wood note, some mustiness and a touch of warming alcohol notes in the finish. As the beer sits for a while some light lacquer notes become noticeable in the nose as do some caramelized malt notes. There is not a whole lot going on in the nose for a sour beer, though it is not bland.

Somewhat sweet tasting with only a light, though noticeable tartness. Flavors of cherry up front are offset by light oak notes of soft buttery oak, woody spice that even gets a bit hot in the finish. The second pour of this is a duplicate of the first except that this time I eat the foam before it can overflow my glass. The head tastes of spicy oak. Very fizzy tasting because of the excessive carbonation; the excess is quickly swirled away though and this leaves the beer still effervescent with a light body that has just a bit of malt heft to it. Despite being quite light, the oak seems to intrude just a bit on the funky sour flavors; this is more because the funky notes of this beer are so soft and subtle than because the oak is overbearing. The sourness here is soft and definitely lactic in focus, but it does nicely offset a touch of cherry-like fruitiness as well as just a hint of sweetness and malt character. The malt actually contributes a significant toasty, biscuit character at times along with a bit of caramel.

It wasn’t a great sign when my first pour of this bottle was knocked over by me after getting a bit too enthusiastic with my dogs; they enjoyed licking the beer off the floor but I only laughed because I knew I had way more of this beer than I needed. Now this beer is certainly not bad, so don’t let me leave you with that impression, 750ml is just a whole lot of beer of something that is not truly exciting. There aren’t any off flavors and nothing is overbearing. I will admit though that this is much more well integrated and tasty than Moxie; so they are moving in the right direction at least and I will certainly continue to try and procure these interesting beers. This just isn’t funky and sour enough for my particular taste, but I think it is a great introduction to the malty Flemish type of sour beer because it is so tame.

Thanks to mibirder for this - very foamy amber ale - extremely over carbonated - smells earthy and woody, with some overripe fruit and a slight vegetal character - some chocolate and cherry skins underneath - very mildly sour and tart, with some chocolate-covered cherry kind of flavor - a little bit of brininess underneath - not a lot of complexity, but the flavor is decent - a tiny bit acidic in the finish - this might get a little better with age, but now it’s simply okay.

Shared by notalush, awesomely because I really wanted to try this. Pours very with a very foamy and fizzy head and a brown color. Aroma is slightly rotten cherries and some herbal grassiness. Some cola in there as well with figs and black bread. Taste is overwhelmed by carbonation. Takes a lot of the flavor away and overpowers the palate. Some sour-tree bark-cherry in the aftertaste. This beer actually has a lot of potential despite my rating. Its an overly carbonated Oud Bruin. Loose some carbonation, sour it up a bit more, and add a little bit more body and then we have a winner.
750mL cork&wire, Heart of Darkness thick walled tulip.

750ml bottle. Pours a muddy brown with a decent head and lacing. Too over-carbonated for my tastes and takes away from the overall experience and flavour. Decent use of cherries, but a bit too much specialty malt is involved. Odd funk character with some acidity and green apple. Very ordinary and a bit “off”.

Corked bottle from Brewpub.. Poured dark brown color with a large fizzy off-white head that mostly lasted with good lacing. Moderate to heavy sweet citrus earthy aroma. Medium body with a sticky texture. Medium sweet malty flavor with a moderate sweet & sour finish of moderate to long duration. My expectations where met with a beer that may need some age to blend and balance.

Bottle shared by notalush. Pours a tawny brown with a large head. Pleasant fruity aroma with both sweet and sour notes. The flavor is again fruity and lightly sour. Dries out considerably at the finish. Very effervescent. Glad I tried it, but probably not something I would revisit.

Bottle split between 4 guys. Uncaged and cork shot off without any help from me. Enormous fizzy white head that took 5 minutes to finally die down. A little funk with some sourness in the nose, and a balanced taste of the same. A little bit of cherry in it as well. I think if they left this out of the oak it would be better, one of those rare occasions where it didn’t need it. Decent, but you’ve gotta support it for the beer on Sunday cause!

Bottle. Aroma of sweet oak, dark sourish earth. Flavor sour-tart-bitter earth with tart red fruits, somewhat interesting. Ok.