New Holland Imperial Hatter

Brewed by New Holland Brewing Company
Style: Imperial/Double IPA
Holland, Michigan USA

Bottle thanks to NC Drinker. Pours copper with light head. Citris aroma. Meddium bitterness, hint of carmel. Well balanced.

On draught during New Holland’s special tapping ƒ:30) at Great Taste of Midwest 2009 in Madison, Wisconsin. Pours a hazy orange amber colored brew with a nice off-white head that leaves behind some great lacing. Aroma of grapefruit and tangerine zest, just barely any caramel malt and some grassy hops. Taste is full bodied, flavors of citrus, grapefruit and sweet apricots with a touch of caramel malt. Finish has a strong alcohol presence with more lingering grapefruit and hop character. It’s a hop bomb overall with some fruit profile.

Bottle at RFDs in D.C. Pours a deep hazy orange color with a thick whitehead. Aroma is huge hops. Grapefruit, citrus, just a hint of malt. Delicious hop nose. Flavor was a little muddied. Not quite the sharp hops notes I was expecting. A little sweet, a little malty with more of a huop undercurrent.

Sampled on tap at Brixie’s 75th anniversary beer tasting in Brookfield, IL. Poured to a fluted fest glass an amber tone with a modest off white head and spotty lacing. The aroma was heavy citrus and resin smoothed by complimentary malt. The flavor showed a good deal of malt sweetness and strong, hop bitterness. Have always been a fan of the Mad Hatter, and now it’s big brother.

22oz bottle from riversideak via Mys Swap 4 (big thanks!). Pours a hazy copper with an average off-whie head. Nose is strong toffee, grapefruit and pine. Taste is apricot, mandarin orange, pineapple on top of a strong toffeish malt backbone. Carbonation is just right, body is full....mouthfeel almost syrupy. This is in between an IIPA and a barleywine.

Location: 22 oz bottle from Norm’s, 8/11/09

Aroma: Citrus fruits, grapefruit, a bit of grass, some light caramel maltiness as well
Appearance: Clearish orange-copper color, fluffy off-white head, nice lacing
Flavor: I tasted a nice hop character up front (nice mix of citrus and pine hops), and some lingering malts (caramel, maybe a bit of biscuit) in the end palate, some balanced, but pretty hoppy
Palate: Nice mouthfeel, long duration, minimal alcohol burn, dry
Overall Impression: I liked this beer a lot. A really solid example of a style I absolutely love. Found this one to be balanced enough for non super hopheads, but still hoppy enough for the hopheads to enjoy. Not the best IIPA out there, but something I would certainly drink again.

**Just submitted a Photo for this one as well, as it was missing one.

Pours a transparent orange-amber with a sizable light tan head. Assertive citrus and some piney hop aroma. Syrupy, with a strong malt flavor, which to me somewhat undermines the hop flavor. The alcohol flavor is a little too noticeable for my taste.

Bomber. Pours a transparent copper with a massive and fluffy head. Aromas of sweet citrus and tropical fruit-like hops come rushing at me from arm’s length and closer inspection don’t reveal much more. In fact, the aromas seem to be stronger from further away... Flavor is sweet and alcoholy... almost a butterscotch flavor and lots of caramel, but then with a lot of alcohol and hops in the finish. This is pretty odd stuff... I don’t know what the deal is, but the hops seem to be a tease and they are pretty hard to pick out over the malty sweetness. 12 ounces of this would be vastly superior to 22... It’s not awful, but that will be more than enough of it.