New Holland Dragons Milk

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

12 oz. bottle from 2004 cellared. Poured nicely with a few floaties. Spectacular fruity, sour aroma. Taste is tart with definite oak barrel notes and a burnt flavor in the background. I’d like to compare it to a recent boltting to taste the difference.

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)

A round black beer that with a brown-white head. Silky and warm like a lady in lingerie. Ebony brown. Bourbon, oak, and dark chocolate. Tres nice.

Woody aroma to this ale....which I must admit reminds me of a flemish ale. But I do like it. Pours a very dark brown with an off white head....lacing is very good. Gives a medium mouthfeel....kinda sour on the front. I sense some woody notes and wine on the end. It’s very unusual...but drinkable.

pours dark black. taste is roasty, but not quite enough to be mistaken as a stout. very smooth for a 9% beer wonderfully flavor, you can really tell this was aged on wood. a very interesting beer.

Bottle. This one fights description. It’s somewhat like a scotch ale, smokey and strong, yet hops are present. The oak really comes through in the nose. Good stuff, I don’t know if I would want more than one at a sitting, but I like it. It makes me want to sit in a big throne, crown all cock-eyed on my head, deciding fates of the masses.

Brown in color with a filmy and glass coating light tan head. Complex & inviting nose with a variety of dimensions, wood (bourbon, soaked oak), malt (chocolate, roast) along with hints of rum cake and chocolate covered cherries. Creamy, bubbly feel on the palate. Flavors continue on, contributing what the aroma hinted at. Well extracted malts with hints of chocolate, vinous fruits, bourbon, maple and vanilla. A very good beer and oddly enough, this was strikingly similar to a rare beer I had at the Le Sois Bock in Paris this past summer called Warenghem Olde Breizh (which I am the only rater of). Their malt profiles were nearly identical and they were both aged in wood.

This one was a little bitter. Not sure if it was maybe going a little sour. Can taste the oak in it. The only thing that really had the "stout" feel to it was the burnt toast coming through. Dark brown in appearance. 6-4-6-3-14 Re-rate from a bomber thanks to LoganDenver. Pours a darker brown with some amber when held to light. A smaller tan lacing head. Aroma of sweet vanilla and a woody oak. Flavor of the same with a slight roastiness.