New Holland Dragons Milk

Brewed by New Holland Brewing Company
Style: Stout
Holland, Michigan USA

Deep amber color, with clingy, off-white lace - aroma of brown sugar, vanilla, nuttiness, cookie dough - creamy mouthfeel - doughy flavor, very mild sweetness - roasty notes, with subtle brown sugar and hazelnut - the bourbon barrel adds a soft vanilla and oak quality, but doesn’t overpower like in many barrel-aged beers - well-hidden alcohol - some pretty nice stuff.

17-Jun-06 (12 oz bottle: Obtained 25-Oct-05 in trade with Pailhead, thanks Kevin!) I wasn’t planning on rerating this beer, but my experience with this is considerably different from the first time I had it. Before, it was a fairly sweet beer to me but this is decidedly not a sweet beer this time around. Sure, there’s an underlying sweetness to the rich, roasty malts, but the sour cherry and oaky character of barrel-aging is easily superceding all else. I’m reminded of eating a tasty dessert of lightly-sweet chocolate and tart berries. Bitterness is mild, which keeps the focus squarely on the barrel-aged aspects. Alcohol isn’t at all noticeable this time around. The tart fruit nose also projects a significant oakiness. Not at all heavy on the palate, but it has a great mouthfeel, lively, effervescent, surprisingly refreshing for such a dark beer. Deep ruddy mahogany color, slightly translucent at the edges. Half an inch of light tan head settles to a wide ring. Some streaky lacing on the glass. Amazing how night and day two bottles can be. I really liked it the first time around, but it’s totally turning me on this time around.

05-Apr-05 (12 oz bottle: Obtained in trade with goldtwins, thanks Larry!) After reading the label notes and then pouring this beautiful beer, I was expecting to be blown away. It’s still a pretty decent beer, but it’s not living up to my expectations initially. What I’m getting mostly is a very sweet and sugary beer with some mild dark roasted maltiness and forward alcohol, and I’m very much reminded of a foreign stout. However, as the beer has warmed to room temperature and opened up, the transformation has been amazing. The oak aging has decidedly come to the forefront, and the dark roasted malts and the alcohol have supplanted the sugary sweetness for dominance as well. Hops seems to have a pretty minimal impact throughout the session. The lightly sweet and malty aroma is initially offset by the surprising presence of a spicy, chili-like aroma, but that seems to fade after awhile, leaving an oaky, sweet, and mildly roasty nose. Rich and full bodied, smooth and lightly carbonated on the palate. Very dark brown in color is opaque in normal lighting, but slightly ruddy and translucent when held up to a bright light source. The dark tan head is large and bubbly on the pour and shows exceptional retention right through to the final drop of beer in my glass. The head remains one large body, however, and lacing is unable to form on the glass. I think this would be an incredible beer on cask as serving it cold clearly affected this beer negatively in my tasting session. (7, 4, 8, 4, 15 = 3.8)

The aroma is toasted with milk, vanilla, wood, chocolate, and molasses. The appearance is dark brown with an average head. The flavor is like the aroma but is rather weak. The palate is rather thin. Overall it’s too washed out for my liking.

The beer piles forth from the brown silk screened bottle a deep brown with a large creamy tan head that slowly fades to nothingness leaving a fine thick sheet of lace to cover the glass. Nose is a hodge-podge of aromas, vanilla, Oak, caramel, toasted malt, hops, very complex to say the least, start is slightly sweet with a tinge of tartness, grain profile decent, and the top light to middling in feel. Finish has a moderate acidity, the hops delightful with the Oak flavor lasting to the very dry end, also a bit of tummy warming from the 9 percent ABV, certainly a beer to age.

Bottled. I had the regular Dragon’s Milk but it blew up in my closet, thoroughly soaking the wall, floor, and every bottle around it. Hmmm. Aroma’s got molasses and veggies, light milk chocolate, a little bit of licorice. Bit, complex, oaky flavor, minor chalky notes. A touch of bourbon/whiskey. Not too strong in the whiskey department, thankfully, but a bit weak in general.

Bottle: Pours a deep brown with a rusty copper hue and a dense tan film of head. Toasted oaky aroma with some mildly sweet raisin notes and soft milk chocolate. Silky palate. The flavor displays some toasted malts that mesh with soft bourbon/boozy notes giving it a soft sweetness of toasted marshmallows. Tannic woody notes in the mild toasted plum middle. A decent oak aged ale that remains fairly balanced and not overly boozy.

Dark black body with a small creamy tan head. Sweet roasted malt, light caramel and coffee hints. Sweet coffee, roasted malt and light creamy caramel, hints of vanilla and very faint oak. Medium body with moderate carbonation.

[125-20061209] 1pt6floz. Leather malty tones in the aroma. Deep dark brown body with a little light brown head. Very creamy and thick chocolate flavour, lightly sour, with malted roast notes. Creamy full body with noticeable alcohol. Nice creamy feel and good togetherness. (7/4/8/4/16) 3.9

[1400B-20080530] Bottle. Dark malt aroma is a bit milky, a bit roasty and a bit fruity. Dark brown body with quick light tan bubbles. Boozy chocolate roasted malt flavour. Medium-full body. Nice boozy balance. (7/3/8/3/15) 3.6
(0T @ Mondial; Montreal, QC)