New Holland Night Tripper

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

22oz. bottle. Roasty and lightly sweet aroma, full of dark chocolate and espresso with lighter notes of cream, brown sugar, raisin and faint alcohol. Black in color with dark brown showing around the edges and a fine, subsiding head with sparse lacing. Flavor profile strikes a similar balance between roasty and sweet, the malts rich, toasty, nutty and sugary, with plenty of dark chocolate, toffee and mocha, seeing a light to moderate amount of bitterness, vaguely burnt grains and alcoholic tones creeping in late, the deeply roasted malt also providing some dryness towards the finish. Thick, warming and fairly smooth on the palate, body is of course absolutely huge. Perhaps not the most complex of Imperials, but well constructed and deeply satisfying.

Bottle thanks to St. Fun. Pours with a near black body and a tan head. Aroma of tobacco, vanilla, leather, chocolate, roast, and dark fruit. Taste is light alcohol, roast and vanilla. Nice and drinkable for the style, but not an exceptional beer for the category. Creamy mouthfeel. Another good, solid imperial stout!

Bottle shared at a BA tasting event. Black and thick with a tan head. Aroma is like a typical good RIS with coffee, roast, and alcohol. Flavor is roasted malt, coffee, dark chocolate, and alcohol. Palate fairly full and creamy. A little boozy but still good.

On tap at brewery. Black with a tan head. Aroma of coffee, roasted malt, and light hops. Taste of coffee, dark chocolate, toasty malt. Creamy mouthfeel. Not bad!

2008 Vintage

7/31/2009: I’m tired of opening the fridge and seeing this bottle sitting there, so that means that it is is finally time just to drink it! Holland Night Tripper Imperial Stout... Aroma: A nose full of deeply caramelized malts; smooth, rich roasty malt; Belgian chocolate; chocolate liquour. Appearance: Smooth, thick pour; Near black/ebony color (okay, it’s black!), opaque; minimal carbonation, frothy tan-colored crown. Flavor: Very smooth and very rich, quite complex; Creamy mocha, heavily caramelized malt; Thread of syrupy hard orange candy; Sweet, somewhat medicial black licorice then some lovely char/tobacco in the finish; Moderate bitterness overall; Warming alcohol that is well-blended into the flavor. Palate: Full-bodied, mellow, milky, extremely smooth; even a bit chewy! Overall: Wow, this is a damn good beer and better than I remember it from when it first came out. All of the flavors have melded together very, very nicely in this layered and extremely tasty Imperial Stout!

1 pint 6 fl. oz. silk-screened bottle (27° Plato, 10.8% a.b.v) from The Party Source in Bellevue, Kentucky. Rating #281 for this beer.

Pours an opaque jet black with almost no head whatsoever. Aroma is nice roasted mocha coffee and a bit of sugar covered raisins. Flavor is pretty sweet but not too much, then a nice bitter roasted character and a warming alcohol finish. Almost tastes like a really good rum filled dark chocolate. Overall, very enjoyable.

Tap at MBG Summer Festival. Poured black with a brown head. Aroma consisted of coffee and subtle chocolate notes. Had a nice Java flavor through out but some what one note.

I am not impressed with this stout at all. It pours dirty oil black with a decent tan head. The smell is horrible though, you get a tad of coffee and chocolate but to me the overwhelming aroma is rubbing alcohol. The taste is nothing special either. It has as coffee alcohol taste with no palate. Its oily and just goes rigth down. A horrible stout effort.