New Holland Night Tripper

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

Draft: Blackened bronze. Tight but thin gray-tan cap of foam. Vinous nose of raisins, molasses, charcoal, burnt cookies, and coffee-tinged roast. Hint of soy sauce, cola and resin. Soft pricks of carbonation. Viscous body. Sharp alcohol highlights the residual sweetness as molasses and fudge inundate the palate. Comes off as being a bit acidic due to the crunchy roast and charred malt which tingle the palate. Quite smoky, though wet and tackily sugary at the center. Mild notes of papery oxidation add to the dull and chalky roastiness. Finishes with a medicinal and alcoholic burn, as sticky molasses lingers and overwhelms the lurking smoky-tinged roast. Rather delightfully vinous and fruity, but suffers from being too tacky, sweet and alcoholic.

Pours thick, black, tan head. String malty aroma. Flavors of dark chocolate, coffee, charcoal, a little soy. Not a bad stout but lacks complexity with overwhelming taste of charcoal that diminishes the other flavors. Very warming a little alcohol taste.

Bomber via BBB63, damn Mike you rock. Shared with bikesandbeer and a gaggle including my girlfriend. Heard good things about this. Pours black with soem light brown ring. Nose is extremely roasted, with lots of big malts and coffee. Taste is really nice, quite chcolaty with nice sweet characteristics. Its a nice impy.

It seems like imperial stouts were made for rating; they have distinctive appearances and tons of flavor and aroma. And while this one was good, and I enjoyed it, and no doubt by the time I’m writing will have given it a good rating, I can’t say that it is in the elite of this style in my mind, compared to other beers of this style I’ve tried...still good and worth a try though. It poured a very inky black, and was a bit more viscous than I thought it might be. Head was minimal. Aroma was coffee-ish, and very boozy but in a bad way. It was (to me) quite reminiscent of rubbing alcohol. Thankfully, that rubbing alcohol astringency did not transfer to the taste, which was highly roasty with lots of coffee flavor. Still a bit boozy (it’s 10+% ABV after all), but not in a bad way. Mouthfeel was rather smooth. I bought this bottle from Sendik’s in Franklin, and split it with SurlySober and Flyer, who in turn shared Weyerbacher Simcoe DIPA, Ten FIDY, and Central Waters Coffee Stout with me.

Bomber. Black pour with no head or visible bubbles. Nose of espresso and chocolate with some alcohol. Hits the mouth with nice milky coffee, nuts, and some cocoa powder. There’s almost no carbonation on the tongue, but it still goes down very smoothly and finishes with a nice, warm, sticky feel. Excellent balance, and remarkably "burn-free" for something that’s nearly 11% alcohol.

Thought I remembered liking this better, but notes usually speak the truth. Roasted and burntmalts with a stingy metallicness in the aroma. Big chocolate brown head lies on top ofa dark brown-black body. Much bigger hop flavor than expected mixed with a heavy dose of chalky cocoa and dark chocolate and burnt malts. Makes for a strange if not unique experience. Not overly impressive, but not bad.

Black pour with a tiny tan head. Roasted sweet maltiness in the nose and flavor. Very rich. Wonderful.

pours almost black with little to no head. Aromas of roast malt, coffee, chocolate, and caramel. Nice bitterness to go with all of the traditional stout flavors. Very nice indeed.