Night Tripper
New Holland Brewing Company

Bottle. 2013 vintage. Tan head. Black color.

Cocoa powder and chocolate cake. Toasted malts. Slightly silky feel. Caramel malt. Dried black cherries and light molasses. Full bodied. Solid imperial stout for 8 years old.

Pours black with a nice tan head that quickly dissipates. Fizzy at first, then it looks flat. Smells great with dark fruit and chocolate in the nose- like a cadbury fruit and nut bar. Taste is rather exceptional too. Sweet up front, and throughout, with a big hit of dark chocolate in the middle that persists into the pleasantly bitter roasty finish. There's enough complexity though, and it doesn't taste like a chocolate beer. As you drink more that note becomes less aparrent and gives way to the dark fruit from the nose. Some boozy spiciness persists well after the finish and is somehow pleasant too. Obviously full bodied but not as heavy as you might think. The strong carbonation at first seems to have dissipated. Overall, it's just awesome. It's easy to become jaded having reviewed hundreds of beers but every once in a while one still comes along and surprises you. This is among my all time faves and one of the best imperial stouts I've had. I should note, I drank this beer about 3 1/2 years after its bottling date.

 

12oz bottle courtesy of Whyteboar. According to the stamp on the label, this was bottled on December 11, 2017. "Pre-aged for your pleasure!" < da-dum/crash!> But seriously...(ahem) this is 11.5% alcohol, so unless left on a loading dock in 100° weather, this should still be a drinkable beer.

Poured into a tallboy can glass (I really don't know what else to call it), this was very stout-like in appearance. Dark brown, virtually black color, decent sized tan head. Decent lace.

Roasty, dark maltnaroma that that hints at coffee, dark chocolate and a tiny bit of dark fruits.

Not quite as rich in the flavor as the nose suggested, but still very nice. Roasty, coffeeish and slightly sweet up front, with an almost imperceptible alcohol flavor midway through that's deep in the background. Bitter, slightly hoppy twang at the finish.

Medium bodied, slightly creamy mouthfeel.

Nice post-breakfast beer. This was definitely more than still drinkable. Perhaps it's age has toned down it's alcohol heft, as it's pretty low in the mix, but otherwise this seems no worse for being nearly 2 1/2yrs from bottling. It's not an imperial stout that's mind blowing or reinvents the wheel, but it's extremely solid and if brewed locally, I'd grab it whenever it comes out and set some aside for aging.

 

Bottled 1/23/17; drank 4/5/17 @ the Yarchives.

Black/purple appearance.

A rough pour yielded a nice, noisy tan head; strong lace.

Cream, milk chocolate, raspberry & mild fresh earth notes in the nose.

Thick, creamy mouthfeel.

Cream, milk chocolate & raspberry flavors up front; fresh earth & mild booze heat notes on the nose.

Robust & balanced; this is actually well above average. I'd have another...

 

 

Had a 2013 bottle. Besides the initial alcohol taste it got better and was a pleasant imperial stout.

 

 

 

 

 

 

We drank one of these during March Madness, did we get around to drinking both vintages? I'm not really sure. . .

Anyways, pours mostly black as night kind of imperial stout with a light brown head 1/2". Aroma is mostly roasted malt and given the age (of both bottles) there was a question as to whether this was a Russian Imperial Stout or not. It is not, just the age gave it kind of a dark fruit bitterness you get in an RIS.

Taste followed up the dark fruit aspect even more. This was seemingly an RIS all the way at this point, prunes and roasted malt providing a good amount of bitterness. Nugget and Magnum hops provide some in that regard as well. The alcohol doesn't sting as much as it could, especially paired with that aforementioned bitterness. I didn't perceive any sweetness to it. Its a big ass imperial stout, but I don't really get all the love for it in the reviews. Decent but nothing special.

Man, I knew that when I set out on New New Holland/Belgium Beer Sunday (Week 698) things would become tougher as I progressed. What I failed to account for were an early-morning meeting/interview & repeated computer glitches (on my end) over the course of the day. I am pressing on despite it getting closer to the end of NBS.

From the Bottle: "An abundance of roasted malts and flaked barley create a rich, roasty Stout with deeply intense, lush flavors."; "Parings: Dark Chocolate, Smoky Cheese, and Cayenne".

I began as I usually do by Pop!ping the cap & beginning a slow, gentle pour. Once it was sufficiently decanted, an in-glass swirl raised just under two fingers of dense, foamy, rocky, deep-brown head with decent retention that left behind loads of lacing as it fell. Color was Black/Opaque (SRM = 44), allowing ZERO light penetration. Nose was REALLY chocolaty, more like a liquefied Brownie or chocolate pudding than the Baker's chocolate of Dragon's Milk. Mouthfeel was dense & thick, like a dollop had been scooped onto my tongue. I let it just roll around in my mouth & on my tongue. Warming, I got both a sweet chocolatiness & a bit of fusel alcohol heat. Phew! Nearly seven months in the bottle & it was still pretty hot! This one could age for a while. I stick by my initial analogy of a liquefied Brownie. It was sweet, but not cloying, in terms of its chocolaty taste and it had a breadiness that became more assertive as I grew used to the heat. Finish was semi-sweet & I say this because I am always reluctant to hang the "Sweet" tag on a beer. I think that with a bit more aging, I would be a little more confident in saying semi-sweet. If you do any aging of your own, let me know how it evolves. YMMV.

 

 

Very tasty.. a little alcohol tasting at first but mellows into a very drinkable delight. You can discern the different ingredients... great stout!

 

12oz bottle into a pint glass. bottled 12/11/17, so 4 1/2 months old.

looks great. jet black body, big creamy/foamy oatmeal colored head leaving generous lacing.

a roasty, faintly boozy aroma. a little dried fruit as well.

roasted malt taste, slightly sweet, a little boozy, dried fruit, a tad bitter. some molasses. really, a very nice tasting imperial stout.

mouth is around medium, a little thinner than expected. nice and roasty on the finish.

overall, another beer that's been on my wish list for a while, and this does not disappoint. happy to have another 3 in reserve.

Very good, taste some nutmeg

 

Tinypalozza 3/24/2018

 

Bottled 1/23/17. Drank Mar 2018. Poured into a tulip glass.

Pour: dark brown with a hint of amber. Small one finger tan head. Decent bubbly lacing thought the drink. Really nice only lacking a bit more head to be outstanding.

Nose: dark fruit, alcohol, dark roast malts, someone in a review mentioned chili peppers and I think there is a hint. Might be the flakes barley mention on the label. Maybe just the power of suggestion but something to it. Pleasant.

Taste: dark roasted malts, burnt toast, dark chocolate, sweet/bitter hops. Like the nose, maybe a hint of chili pepper or the barley character. Some coffee. Slight bitter aftertaste but not unpleasant. Really balanced and complex.

Mouthfeel: thick and chewy with subtly more carbonation than expected. Or maybe it’s the hint of pepper giving it a little kick in the mouth. Love the feel.

Overall: I really like this beer. It’s not barrel aged but has some alcohol characteristics that make it seem BA. Complex, chewy, well balanced are traits I like. I have bought in the past and would buy again.

 

Poured into a 13 oz teku glass bottled on 12/11/17. Pours a very attractive near pitch black with a very nice brown 2 finger head that leaves nice thick patches of lace behind.

Smell is dark chocolate, chilli peppers, coffee grounds, vanilla bean, hazelnut, anise, and maybe a hint of alcohol.

Taste follows dark chocolate, some heat from the peppers, vanilla, hazelnut, and anise with some alcohol, but very little.

Mouthfeel is a little bigger than medium, plenty of carbonation for the style, maybe a tad dry, and at 11.5% ABV it goes down pretty darn easy.

Overall this is a very nice stout, doesn’t blow your mind, but it is very balanced and pretty darn complex.