New Holland Pilgrims Dole

Brewed by New Holland Brewing Company
Style: Barley Wine
Holland, Michigan USA

Bottle from Moejuck. Thanks Joe. Poured a clear dark amber with a thin white head. No lace. Aroma is strong maple syrup, caramel, toffee and tobacco. Taste is pretty sweet a mildly cloying with more elements transferred from the nose. Handed this one off to my buddy Taylor after several sips. Not really doing it for me.

(22oz bottle) Crystal clear dark amber body topped by small beige head. Aroma is moderately sweet, maple/caramel, some raisin, candied apple, tobacco. Taste is moderately sweet, caramel, fig/raisin, maple. Light alcohol burn in the finish. Medium-full body, some syrup/stickiness, fairly drinkable for such a high ABV.

Bottle. Viscous, pure amber body with a silky off-white head that fades. Prominent sweet maple aroma with notes of caramel, grapes and raisins plus some spicy hop character. Flavor has nutty highlights and deep caramelization with medium-high sweetness and balancing bitterness. A little syrupy, but still an enjoyable and tasty sipper.

OK ... this is probably better than a barley-based barley wine. Nearly clear dark brown, almost no head. The black hole of beer ... so viscous that bubbles seem to get trapped in the liquid. Nose of wehat, of course. The taste is simple, grain (wheat in this case), and alcohol. Mouth feel flat and soft and syruppy and dead. Possibly better than the OverAll 12 I gave it, but it loses style points for having so little interest to go along with all that alcohol. I really did not enjoy this and did not finish even a small glass. Drain pour for me.

I had this beer draft at Zeno’s in PA. The beer pours a dark somewhat cloudy amber with little to no head. The aroma is sharp and wheaty. The flavor is a deep sharp sweetness that persists through the drink. There are some hints of fruits, but more than anything, and I have to thank mj for pointing this out, the beer reminds me of a cask aged English pipe tobacco I smoke in the winter. This was my first wheat wine and I I have to admit I expected something a bit more distinctive. Had I not known better I might have thought this beer was an off flavored barley wine.

Bottle. Pours orange with a small off white head. Aroma of wheat malt, alcohol, and even sense pumpkin spices even though there are not in it. Initial flavor is sweet and citrusy that transitions to a bitter and spicy midde., with a hint of tang. Finish has some boozy and yeasty notes. The struggles to between being a barleywine and a wheat wine, but they are not playing well together on my palate. This just comes off as odd.

Draft glass
Consumed at Zeno’s, July 2007
Labeled simply as New Holland Wheat Wine. Dark garnet colored body, tan head, still body, about 10% opaque (nearly clear but not completely). Maple syrup sweetness in the nose, high alcohol as well. Taste? More sharp alcohol, cedar wood, HUGE tobacco flavor, sweet and bitter tobacco, I guess. Bitter but not hoppy on the tongue, just boozy and bitter with dry cedar wood notes in the finish. The wheat characteristics were there, but more subtle that other wheat wines I’ve had. Decent enough though. I like it.

Bottled. Murky and amber colured with a dense tan head. Malty with notes of grains, caramel, alcohol,fruits and hops. Also has strong sour notes. Intentional??