New Holland Night Tripper

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

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.

Bomber shared by NachlamSie. Pours black-orange with almost nonexistent tan head. The aroma is milk chocolate, dark fruits, some deep barley tones, and a hint of alcohol. The flavor is milk chocolate, mild coffee, a little bit of cashew, dark fruits. There’s a little bit of brown sugar sweetness, and the finish is nutshell bitterness and alcohol. Decent, but not superior.

Bomber split with Tronraner. Pours black, thick, and with very low carbonation. It almost looks still in the glass and no head forms. The aroma is rich with lots of plum, molasses, rum, and just a bit of roastiness. Mouth is dense and slick. I find this quite nutty with strong hints of brownies. Lots of chocolate, walnuts, and molasses are present. This is on the sweeter side of imperial stouts without much bitterness present, though it isn’t overly sugary either. Alcohol is completely hidden on this one. I prefer a roastier, sharper imperial stout but this is still fulfilling. After a pint, some diacetyl starts to rear its head, but we’ve still got a well rounded big stout here.

Bottle pours very dark. Very good IS. Sweet and smooth. Nice roasted malt and coffee characters. Some dark chocolate and some bitter cocoa create the right amount of bitterness and has a nice balanced sweet finish.

Draught at the 6th Boulder Strong Ale Festival. Pours opaque with a large, creamy, dark brown head, lasting with good lacing. Aroma is heavy malt (molasses, caramel, toffee), light hops (grass), heavy yeast (leather) with notes of tar and brown sugar. Full bodied, creamy texture, average carbonation, and a bitter finish. Long duration, moderate sweetness, light acidity and bitterness.

On tap @ Boulder Strong Ale Fest poured a clear dark brown nearly black with a lasting tyan head. Aromas of coffee, bitter chocolate, roastiness and light vanilla. Palate was medium bodied and smooth. Flavors of bitter chocolate, vanilla, light coffee and light roastiness with a smooth lingering semisweet finish.

22 oz bottle

I was wary of this when I saw it at the store but I figured New Holland deserved another shot. After all it has been a while since I last sampled any of their products so perhaps things have improved. As it turns out this is actually a pretty good imperial stout once you get past how thick it is. I won’t be buying any more because my cellar is stocked with other things but if you see this on the shelf don’t worry about picking up a dud.

Aroma / Appearance - The fluid black body swirls in an oily pattern that leaves streaks around the rim of the glass. The nose is thick and almost suffocating with traces of charcoal and plum. The dominant component is pure dark chocolate like the variety that you would use for hot chocolate (the real stuff not Hershey’s powder). It could be more complex but it isn’t thin either.

Flavor / Palate - The mouthfeel chokes the senses with layer after layer of melted dark bittersweet chocolate. Other than a bit of smokiness and plum that is the entirety of this beer. With a few more flavors in the mix it would be excellent; instead it is one of the more average imperial stouts. The biggest difficulty may be in finishing the bottle. Imagine trying to drink two pints of slightly diluted Hershey’s syrup. I’m glad to have tried this but I won’t be getting any more.

Black, very thin tan head. Nose is nutty toffee, loads of alcohol, some chocolate & rich burnt malt. Flavor is that nutty toffee, caramel, plenty of hops & too much alcohol. A bit cloying/underattenuated.