New Holland Dragons Milk

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

22oz bottle. Pours a murky, cola-brown color; khaki-colored head with decent retention and mixed-bubbled lacing. Kind of a relaxed aroma: toasty, burnt wood, hints of bourbon and scotch; some toastiness, but muddled overall. Medium-to-full mouthfeel: toasty vanilla-laden oak and light bourbon notes; milk chocolate, roasted malts, and some bitter coffee notes; very relaxed carbonation; muddled flavor notes overall, though nothing astringent or rough coming through from the barrel character; toasty, basic maltiness; a bit of alcohol showing throughout. Medium finish: coffee, bitter and milk chocolate, and some toasty breadiness; not a lot of barrel character coming through in the end.

22oz bottle 2005 version pours deep dark mahogony wiht a creamy tan head that laces the sides of the snifter well. Aroma is caramel, cherry, vanilla, a touch of oak, and just a bit of alcohol. Flavor is a nice blend of caramel, cherry, oak, smoke and just a hint of chocolate. Palate is full bodied but oh so smooth and creamy. Delightful mouthfeel. I thought this was fantastic and very underrated..

On tap GABF 02: Whiskey aroma, brown colored. buttery, lightly acidic finish and of course, more whiskey. This beer is unique and I could see how others would love it, but I’m glad I had a 1 OZ sample. If I had more I’m sure I would have rated this lower.

Bottle. Pours dirty brown with an aroma of corn and coffee. Flavor is tobacco ash and dry milk chocolate. Watery mouthfeel with a raw pasta aftertaste. I rated Crazy Stallion higher than this? Eh, whatever. Slay this one.

FAIL!!! Bottle from Wine Warehouse in Charlottesville (I think). Cola brown pour with faint lacing and no head. Aroma of cream, coffee, chocolate and brown sugar. So far so good. Big oakiness in the taste, a hint of whisky, and definite notes of... rotting cabbage! Fairly strong too. Foul, and in a bad way. Drain pour today... I’ll re-rate next year’s batch.

Deep dark mahogany brown, like rare and expensive wood. Not much head, but as you swirl it around the snifter it coats the glass and oozes back down. Sweet dark fruits and malts (bing cherry, plum), vanilla, both in aroma and taste. Palate is velvet smooth - not overly thick, perfectly carbonated. Riding along the flavor is a constant oak barrel - not just at the end, I'm talking from beginning of the sip til the long dry finish - you will know the oak! Well hopped, but balanced well with the strong malts. I enjoyed this immensely - thanks to my buddy Jeff who travels to New Holland frequently.

Poured a dark deep brown-black color with a nice tan-chocolate head. Lacing was decent. Aroma was chocolate, coffee, and roasted caramel with something just "off" or not right about this one. The flavor was chocolate, coffee, molasses, caramel, and cardboard. The combination of flavors in this thing was quite odd for a stout and not that pleasant, including an overall sweetness that was cloying. Mouthfeel was average for the style. I think the bottle said something about oak (aged?), but none of that was detected by me.

Bottle: Poured a deep brown with some burgundy color ale with a nice light brown foamy head with good retention and some lacing. Aroma of sweet malt with some bourbon notes is well balance. Taste is also comprised of a nice balance between some sweet malt with some dry fruits elements as well as some bourbon with nice vanilla notes. Body is about average with some medium carbonation and no alcohol is apparent. I like how the bourbon is present but does not dominate or brings too much alcohol. A very interesting and different beer that leaves wanting to try more from this brewer.