New Holland Charkoota Rye

Brewed by New Holland Brewing Company
Style: Specialty Grain
Holland, Michigan USA

Bottle shared amongst friends. I LOVE Dopplebocks, so I had high hopes. But, not a fan of the smoked ones. Flavor was wood and campfire, and meat.

Bottle: Ruby caramel, thin sudsy off-white head, dies quickly, sparce lacing.   Graham cracker and rye on the nose, slight breadiness.   Has an air of dark pitted fruit, but oh so very slight.   Malty tongue, very malty, sticky, molasses, bacon on beans, some peat and campfire.   Interesting.   Campfire, ash, charred wood and peat build towards the finish.   Remains fairly malty, syrupy almost but not cloying.   This god-damned label makes me want to eat honey baked ham while drinking this som’ bitch.   My onion/cheese foccacia is a good compliment to this beer.   For some reason this beer reminds me of breakfast.   Strong assertive flavors, clean, malty, and a different beast all together.   Unusual, but I keep wanting to drink it to figure it out more.   I think this is what craft beer is about... right?

Light brown colors with a ruby to garnet hue when held to the light. Diminished off-white head. Smoked cherries and melanoidis explode in the nose. Unfortunately I catch a scent from my past that I cannot escape, the fresh manure of cattle after being given fresh feed that has been mixed with molasses. Hints of iodine as well. As long as I don’t breath too deeply I’m good. I’ve been sniffing so long I’m slightly scared to sip. After the first qauff, I can certainly say "smoke rye".lightly sweet with a bit of pine sap. Slightly medicinal, otherwise a really nice balance of malt, smoke, peat, rye and herbal hops. A brew to set by the open fire, smoke some meat, eat some smoked meat, or just sip while smelling the fires on a fall day. Quite chewt in feel. Smoke, doppelbock, rye... me like.

Draft @ Food Dance. Dark red-brownish colour, off-white head. Nose of smoking wood, chocolate, roasted malts. Flavour of smoke, chocolate, caramel malts.

On tap at the Institute in Philly. Pours a transparent mahogany brown with zero head. Personally, this smells like trash. Smoke, spice, tea leaves, garbage. Taste is woody, more tea leaves, smoke, the liquid at the bottom of a trash can. Finish is chalky with some smokiness. Can’t stand smoked beers and this was a waste of good rye.

Pours a transparent dark copper mahogany with a thin, stringy-lacing white head. Aroma of rich smoky dark caramel malt and complex earthy rye with a hint of brown sugar and light fruity notes. Body starts with a good rich malty fullness and a salty smoky character throughout with nice rye balance and noble hoppy bitterness before a smooth semi-dry lingering smoky finish. A very nice roggen rauchbier.

22 oz bottle courtesy of Binnys (Orland Park, IL). Pours a very dark brownish copper, almost a mahogany with reddish fire, largely transparent, but dark enough to make it hard to see through, with a decent brownish head that dies to a small layer, laces a bit. Aromas are smoked meats and wood, a touch of rye bread, ash, caramelized malts. Simpler yet pleasant, a smoked beer for sure with underlying rye and caramel malts. Initial is lighter side of medium bodied by a bit, a bit boozy, with campfire meats, ham, smokey wood chips, ash, with caramel and rye malts falling in underneath. A light bitterness and decent booziness on the backend, bready and rye, with caramel malts, a touch of spice. The smoke isn’t as heavy as I anticipated, instead turning into a fairly malty lager with some decent smoke elements.. a little offbase for me, as I personally would prefer more smoke. Not bad.

Bottle. Deep red-brown body, thin dissipating ring of buff-colored carbonation. Smoky, meaty, leathery nose, not too strong to prevent the sweet grains from being noticed. Smoke flavors melt into sweet caramel and grain, berries, and toffee. Smoke and leather linger in the finish. A half bottle is plenty.