Dragon's Milk Reserve - S'mores - Bourbon Barrel-Aged
New Holland Brewing Company

Picked up a couple of these at the Giant Eagle in Waterworks. into a tulip glass. Really shows off the deep dark opaque color and the frothy mocha foam in this glass. Smell is very inviting mostly getting the gram cracker and toasted marshmallow but the chocolate in the base seems to peak out. Well its not as sweet as I expected mostly shining though is the bitterness of either the hops or chocolate quite strange since the bottle should be quite mellow with a 4/30/25 date stamp on it so over a year old. It does mellow after awhile so maybe I am not adjusted to high gravity stouts. I have a Oatmeal cookie variant I will try next but this one was pretty good.

Continuing my slow-moving, long-gestating project to try the Dragon Milk variants at the OG brewpub.

This pours a jet black, like used motor oil. Appearance fits expectation. Great nose, and it only gets better as it opens. I get a good hit of vanilla, along with graham cracker and some marshmallow notes on the nose. Incredibly smooth finish with no discernable heat on the end. A welcomed surprise.

Poured from a bottle into a snifter
Appearance – the beer pours a very deep brown color with a small head of tan colored foam. The head fades very rapidly, leaving a touch of foamy lace on the sides of the glass.
Smell – The aroma is big and rich, with a strong showing of dark chocolate and roasted malt mixed with big notes of vanilla marshmallows and a bit of coffee. Along with these smells comes a strong showing of graham cracker along with notes of hazelnut and almond. Rounding out the smell are some other sweet smells of molasses and brown sugar, mixing with the rest to create a very inviting smell.
Taste – The taste starts with a molasses and brown sugar sweetness paired with a little bit of chocolate, some char, and some light bitter coffee. As would be anticipated from the nose, comes flavors of graham cracker and marshmallow, and while lighter upfront, they get more potent as the taste advances on the tongue. All the while some hazelnut joins in, while the roastiness and char get a bit lighter. Notes of booziness develop as well, all while the sweet seems to surge at the end when flavors of raisin and fig join in, leaving one with a rich, warm, and sweet taste on the tongue.
Mouthfeel – The body is moderate in viscosity with a light and delicate carbonation level.
Overall – A bit on the sweeter side as one may expect for a smore flavored brew, but still quite approachable. A pretty nice variant of the original.

12 oz bottle from the Appalachian Vintner ($5.09) with a bottling date of 4-29-2024 stamped on the neck.
Served in a snifter

Appearance. This pours dark, reddish-brown but near black and is topped with a reasonably good tan head that leaves little lacing.

The aroma strongly suggests peanut butter, leading me to re-examine the label. No peanuts in this but my impression continued to feature roasted peanuts even with warming.

The unexpected impression of peanuts fades in the flavor although there is a suggestion of roasted nuts along with notes of dark chocolate, oak, bourbon and vanilla.

Mouthfeel. Full bodied with a smooth but boozy mouthfeel.

Overall. An odd but delicious version of Dragon's Milk.

12 FLUID OUNCE bottle
Served in a snifter

This beer pours black and is topped with an inch of tan head that leaves little lacing.

It has a wonderful chocolate and vanilla aroma. Graham cracker is even in there. Hints of alcohol

Chocolate flavor right off the bat with some vanilla. Feint oak. Some booziness

Medium to full bodied with a silky-smooth mouthfeel

This is a pretty darn delicious version of Dragon's Milk.

 

 

 

Pours jet black white no head on top. Has lots of great smells to it. Graham cracker, peanut butter. Light roasted malt taste along with some sweetness I’m assuming marshmallow.

This is so good. Tastes like dark chocolate and bourbon. Sweet like a marshmallow. The mouth feel is smooth and syrupy. It is so good. Dark, black and beautiful and warms the belly as well.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Remember this beer had a good flavor, not overly strong on the S'mores flavor. Easy sipping dessert beer and not too much as it is fairly sweet. Been 2 or 3 years since I've had it.

Poured from a brown 12 oz. bottle. Has a black color with a 1/2 inch head. Smell is of bourbon. Taste is bourbon, light chocolate and roasted malts. Feels medium bodied in the mouth and overall it ain't bad, but I was expecting more.