New Holland Ichabod

Brewed by New Holland Brewing Company
Style: Spice/Herb/Vegetable
Holland, Michigan USA

Pours an orange color with a fizzy white head. The aroma is pretty prominent or maybe I just had let my beer warm for too long, aroma has got a kind or grassy aspect, along with a bunch of spice, smells kinda smoky, but not exactly. Overall, the aroma is very autumn oriented if that makes any sense. Got some hop bite to it, but not very much. Very slightly sweet. somewhat bitter. Easy drinking on the palate, as it is rather light bodied.

Pours orangish golden with a mostly receding off-white head. Notes of cinnamon, clove, pumpkin, and caramel. Medium bodied with soft carbonation. A very nice spiced ale.

Sample at Buckeye Beer Engine. Clear copper pour with a thin off-white head. Faint spice aroma with cinnamon and clove. Big spice flavor with cinnamon, nutmeg, clove and ginger. Could have used a more profound nose, but still decent.

A lighter body than I would have expected. Pale gold with a thin but clinging white head. There is more spice than pumpkin in the aroma. The clove stands out over anything else. Medium mouthfeel with some nice carbonation. The flavor is decent, but there are better pumpkin ales out tehre. Some malty sweetness up front gives way to the spices. Again, the clove dominates, although I can taste some cinnamon. Not bad.

THOUGHTS: I didn’t think this would be all that great, but it was nice. It had a nice start, but the finish was a little too heavy on the spices to be great. It became less enjoyable as time went by. There was just way too much spice without enough body. TECHNICAL: Bottle. Poured a very clear, dark yellow to light orange with nice carbonation and a small to average, slightly off-white head that mostly diminished and left good lacing. The aroma was light caramel malt, pumpkin pie spices and a little pumpkin. The initial flavor was rather sweet and slightly bitter; while the finish was lightly sweet, slightly sour, lightly bitter and lightly acidic with an average duration. There was caramel malt, pumpkin pie spices, a little pumpkin and more spices. The light to medium body was a little watery and then fairly dry with fairly fizzy carbonation and a lightly astringent, slightly metallic and somewhat chalky finish.

Bottle: A pale, translucent copper pour with a finger of fluffy white head. Less spice in the nose than most pumpkin ales (from this season). Just a little nutmeg, pumpkin, and malt. Crisp and tongue-tingling mouthful of florals, pumpkin, and cloves. Gets a little dirty and earthy in the end with a lingering spiciness; kind of like a spice potpurri led by cloves. Not bad at all.

Tap. Lightly hazy orange with a small white head. Aroma is malty, pumpkin, earthy and lightly grassy. Flavor is mostly malty with the pumpkin coming through in the finish mostly. Nice. Not too sweet, not overpowering pumpkin.

12 oz. bottle pours a rich amber with a golden haze and sparse head that melts quickly. Aroma is floral with earthy undertones and light waft of pumpkin/vegetable. Front palate is malty with pumpkin and gentle allspice middle. Finish is lightly laced with cinnamon. Medium to light body. Flavors blend nicely but there’s not as much complexity as I’d like. That said, it’s one of the better pumpkin beers I’ve had, and it actually has some pumpkin flavor. This beer is too light to pair with a lot of the heartier fall fare, but would be a nice addition for a wilted spinach salad with roasted turkey, cranberries and candied walnuts.