Dragon's Milk Reserve - Triple-Mashed
New Holland Brewing Company

Released 3/18/23; drank 10/8/23 @ the Yarchives.

Brown/black appearance.

An even pour yielded a small, noisy tan head; no lacing remained.

Toasted oak, caramel, sweet bourbon & faint marshmallow notes in the nose.

Sticky medium thick mouthfeel.

Caramel, toasted oak & sweet bourbon flavors.

Too thin, sticky & sweet for me to enjoy. Not awful, though.

 

 

 

 

While regulation Dragon's Milk is a strong candidate for nectar of the gods, some of the seasonal variations prove the more is less theory. What we have here is more, but unlike the typical seasonals with their banana and orange and smores, (and there's nothing wrong with any of those,) this is more of the same. So what happens when you ramp up the base model from 11% to 17%? You get a warmer, bourbonier, boozier take on the beloved original. And if that's not a slam dunk 5/5 then I don't know what the hell is.

 

 

great bourbon malt taste whach out for this beer goes down easy - that's bad for a 17% beer gra=eat tast to the finish

 

 

Pours dark chocolate brown with a nice, one finger head. Aroma is nicely oak and bourbon. Taste is chocolate and bourbon, nicely complex and flavorful. Body is to the left of moderate, being on the lighter side, but still carries a very nicely complex character. The ABV at 17% is fairly well controlled but in no way hidden. This is a wonderful beer that i would enjoy again in a heartbeat.

From what I remember, this was a very good beer. Right up my alley on taste, mouthfeel, aroma. Problem being I remember nothing after I stupidly opened a third one. Never again, but not the beer's fault.

Dragon’s Milk Triple Mash from New Holland. 12 oz bottle. Stored at 34 degrees at home. Received from @Whyteboar in NBW BIF #16. Reviewed 31/01/23 (Review 3126). Note that I use DD/MM/YY protocol.
Printed on label “2022 RELEASE” and stamped in shoulder in yellow ink “09/08/21 09:26”. Served at 57.7 degrees in a hand washed and dried Jester King snifter. The final temperature was 61.8 degrees.
Appearance – 3.5
First pour – Medium Amber (SRM 12), clear.
Body – Brown (SRM 30), opaque. Under direct light, opaque chocolate brown with noticeable precipitates. When rear lite, same but xanthous at the edges. By the final temperature, it is slightly translucent.
Head – Average (Maximum two cm, aggressive center pour), wheat, medium density, fizzy, quickly receding to a 0.1 cm bubble ring and several irregular bubble islands.
Lacing – None. Really not expected at 17.3% ABV.
Aroma – 3.5 – Weak bourbon and roasted malt. Slight oakiness and a bit of caramel. No hops, no yeast.
Flavor – 3 – Distinctly bourbon forward, no hops, no yeast. The bourbon drowns out any other flavors although a bit of oak appears in the aftertaste. No ethanol (17.3 % ABV as marked on label) aroma or taste. Initial gastric burning occurs but quickly mellows. No dimethylsulfide or diacetyl.
Palate – 3 – Thin, watery, soft carbonation.
Final impression and summation: 3.5 Disappointing. The appearance was typical of impy stouts in general, so no surprises there. The palate is unpleasantly thin. Bourbon dominates the aroma and flavor profiles to excess. There is little stout present, just cheap bourbon. Perhaps using barrels from a better distillery would have improved the overall experience. It leaves my lips slightly sticky and my fruit fly drinking friends curious but undecided.

 

Bought two 4-packs back in April 2022. Drank one 4-pack fresh and everyone was phenomenal. Decided to cellar the other 4-pack and wait for the Winter to drink them since we were entering Spring. Started cracking them open in December 2022 and opened the last one 1/7/23. Every single one of the 2nd 4-pack was bad. Flat and tasted off..like spoiled . Not sure if was the 8-9 months of age..maybe this was ment to be drank fresh or it was a bad batch, not sure, but either way at $26 dollars a 4-pack I won’t be rebuying this again. Funny thing is I’ve had regular Dragons Milk that I had stored for a couple years and drank them and they seemed fine.

12 oz bottle poured into a snifter. Pours a medium brown with a thin tan head. Shockingly light-colored for an imperial stout. Aroma and flavor feature notes of cocoa, caramel, bourbon, and vanilla. Some dried fig and a shot of brown sugar sweetness. Maybe a hint of coconut. It's reasonably complex but also very boozy. Mouthfeel is sharp and thin. Overall, not undrinkable but also not something that is worth drinking to me given the abv.

 

Poured from a bottle at fridge temp. Pours black as night with a light layer of tan head. Tons of bubbles streaming up throughout. The nose is fantastic. Tons of malts, oak, black licorice, brown sugar, and a nice dose of dark fruit. Red grapes, blackberries, and a boozy alcohol note. You can definitely tell the ABV is high from the nose, but I wouldn't guess 17.3% - something closer to 13 or 14.

The taste is pretty hot. Reminiscent of Utopias WWS. Boozy. Bourbon, chocolate, a touch of spice, molasses, raisins, shark oak, charred wood, tobacco, and coffee grounds. Really nice. I could see this improving with another year in the bottle.

Mouthfeel is medium bodied. The aftertaste is a mix of sweet and wood. Overall, really great.