New Holland Night Tripper

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

At Mondiale 2008. Dark wth crowning bubbly head. Lots of small bubbles. Some roast and coffee, a bit drying. The taste is a cross between a roasted stout and a dry Irish stout. Licorice is significant. Medium plus mouthfeel, a bit creamy. A sipper, good ingrediants but not very drinkable.

22oz bottle, courtesy of jasonp. Thanks, Jason! Pours a dark, slightly oily chocolate-brown color; medium-tan head with patchy lacing. Chewy milk chocolate, nougats, and roasted malts in the aroma; chewy, soft, chocolate-forward stuff. Medium-to-full mouthfeel: chewy roasted malts, milk and dark chocolate, and lots of charred / slightly burnt malts; not terribly astringent, mostly chocolate and nougat; just not really worth the alcohol. Medium finish: chocolate, roast, and some nuttiness.

(22oz bottle, thanks jasonp) Minimal tan head atop black body with brown edges. Aroma is medium sweet, coffee/roast, light earthy. Taste is moderately sweet, coffee/roast, alcohol, some chocolate, earthy/grapefruit. Sticky, medium-full body.

Bière #17 au Mondial 08 (29/5/08), bouteille. Brune brulée, très peu de collet. Arome de chocolat malté, un peu de café mocha sucré. Goût de choco-café sucré, une touche de caramel, bien malté.

I keep swearing I will not give New Holland another chance after repeatedly being disappointed with their brews. However, this is their highest rated beer (albeit imperial stout), so I thought I’d give it a try. Well, for a bigfoot vertical tasting, we decided to try a few impy stouts side by side after the main event. 2007 Darklord and Nogne Dark Horizon belong in a league of their own, however, Night Tripper has a better flavor and overall balance than either Old Rasputin (a beer which has gone downhill for me), and Victory Storm King, which I need to rerate, because, next to Night Tripper, it is almost undrinkable. This was a pleasnat surprise. Nice complexity with coffee, along with caramel toffee, vanilla beans, balanced with some light hops. Definitely middle of the road within the imperial stout category, which is a good thing.

My Bottom Line:
Roasted coffee beans, chocolate and molasses unite before hop bitterness and swift alcohol cut through some of this Imperial Stout’s residual sugars.

Further Personal Perceptions:
-A ring of foam surrounds the brown-sleeved black.
-The body is big, but feels a little bloated due to all the residual sugars.
-The malts are quite expressive yet don’t feel like they’re as defined as they could be. A young bottle?
-Hops are not really put to use in the aroma and flavor profile.

Bottle.

22oz - Aroma of dark roasted malts, lots of cocoa and chocolate, barley and cream. Pours black with a small brown head and good lacing. Flavor is very roasty, chocolate and burnt malts with a creamy finish. Palate is dry, smooth and silky. Quite tasty and easy drinking for 10.8%. Best brew I’ve had from New Holland.

Dark color. Smell of coffee, chocolate, caramel, malt, hops and dark fruit. Tastes the same. Very nice and very smooth. I will have this again!