New Holland - White Hatter

Here's another installment from New Holland Brewing's "Hatter" series.  It seems like just about every type of Hatter imagineable has come forth: Imperial Hatter, Regular Hatter, Rye Hatter, Farm House Hatter, Black Hatter, White Hatter, Oak Aged Hatter, and even a Hatterday (see what they did there?) tour at the brewery (actually scheduled for this upcoming Sautrday, June 16, 2012).  It seems like an awful lot of their eggs are in this one basket.  I am a little confused on the plethora of styles present here, but I've never held a little creativity against a brewer and I'm not about to start now.  Let's pour! 

Unfortunately, I was at a local pub and was unable to
take my usual round of photos.  Sorry!

Aroma 9/12

The fresh hop cones are very forward and are rich with spice, pine, resin, and a lesser bitter grapefruit.  For a beer that also claims to be also a pale ale AND a Belgian white, I’m getting very little none of either of those styles.  At this point, I’d have guessed that I’m smelling an IPA.  The malts are non-existant and what little sweetness I can detect could just as easily be from the hops’ citrus.  Does any of this make this a bad smelling beer?  No, just underwhelming given its claimed style.  The beer has to warm quite a bit before the Belgian yeast becomes detectable at all.

Appearance 1/3

This is utterly indiscernible from an adjunct lager except that the macrobrews have a better head. Granted, this is on tap, but I still expect a little something.  The color is a light, golden yellow with extremely high clarity (if you can read reversed text, you could read looking through this glass).  To be honest, it looks more like cider than ale.

Flavor 15/20

Thank goodness the flavor is interesting!  Frankly, that’s the way I prefer it (hence the weighted scoring of this category).  The beer begins by with a little bit of Belgian yeast sweetness and really nice dry, crackery malts.  There also appears appear to be a scuffle amongst all the spices present (peppery hops, cloves) in which no one is a winner and the effect is a jumble in the mouth.  It doesn’t take long before adding an undeniable lemon zest citrus and foaming up in the mouth very pleasantly.  The citrus flavor along with a substantial mouthfeel would have me believe that the wheat percentage of this malt bill is fairly high.  The finish drops out the citrus (and all other sweetness) all together and shows a reprise of the dry, crackery malts.  It also adds a nice bitter, which is complimentary and never threatens to overthrow the malt flavors.  Though in the aftertaste, all that lingers is that same bitter, made all the more intense by the fact that it’s unaccompanied.  As a pale ale, this is a decent, citrusy version of the style.  As a Belgian, it’s virtually non-existent; even more so than in the aroma.  At least in the aroma, it had the decency to show up as the beer warmed up.  In the flavor, it is all but completely AWOL.

Mouthfeel 5/5

The carbonation is a high point of this beer!  It’s crispness really compliments that of the malts and its moderate foaming action in the mouth never contradicts the beer by feeling thick & silky or way too light & mousse-like.  The body feels very full, undoubtedly a contribution of all those dry malts.  No detectable warmth or flaws.

Overall Impression 6/10

This is the story of a better than average beer made less by under-delivering on a promising sounding style.  Had the sweetness from the “Belgian white” come through to sweeten the pale ale portion of the brew, you’d have yourself a interesting combination and probably some great aromas.  Instead, it stands as a pretty decent pale ale with a twist (Get it?  Like a twist of lemon?  Get it… oh nevermind).  However, the mouthfeel is awesome for the pale ale style and the carbonation is spot on.

Total 36/50

I think the “Overall Impression” section says it all. If you drink this for a combination of styles, I think you’ll be disappointed. If you drink this as a pale ale, you’ll probably dig it. The malts are everything they should be for a pale ale: lightly bitter, dry, and crisp. The hops are nicely aromatic, but contribute little other than citrus and spice to the flavor. This is a beer that should’ve been better than the sum of its parts… and the sum of its styles.

Warning: Colors in advertisement's glass may be darker than they appear.

New Holland - Pilgrim's Dole Wheatwine

It was what I like to call "New Beer Friday" at the local wine/spirits store.  Every Friday, they get a shipment from their distributor and usually some new bottles will be lining the cooler.  I happened to see this bottle and could not help myself.  It is called Pilgrim's Dole Wheatwine from the New Holland Brewing Co and sells itself as a "barleywine style ale made with wheat."  As I have tirelessly documented in these reviews, I am a bit of a fan of hefes and witbiers as well as beers with high ABVs.  I also enjoy the occasional barleywine, so to combine the two should be an exciting pairing.  Let's pour!

Picture is my own.  Bottle art image used without permission for educational uses only

Aroma 6/12

Fresh from the pour, the wheat used in this beer immediately becomes apparent as a bready scent rises with the head.  However, its reign is short-lived.  As soon as the head settles a bit, a strong dark citrus aroma arrives and he has brought his friend alcohol.  The combination is nearly that of an orange liquor, but with how dominating it is, that may not entirely be a good thing.

Appearance 3/3

The beer pours with no noticeable body traits, but shows a beautiful array of orange, copper, scarlet and amber shades.  The orange packaging is more of a hint than one would suspect.  The pale orange head  (think Easter pastels) is moderate and the remains for a bit, and the collar even longer, but does not last to the end of the pint.  Very nice lacing.  Cannot stress enough the fantastic colors in this pint!

Picture is my own.

Flavor 13/20

There are some good things happening here, but I'm afraid one has to fight through the alcohol to get there.  With only the briefest of introductions of malt and vanilla sweetness one is plunged into strong alcohol warmth.   Walking behind it, not beside, are caramelized orange peel and when held in the mouth a butterscotch essence.  The finish is creamy, not only in body, but in flavor.  It is nearly milky at one point.  The aftertaste is almost entirely alcohol.

Mouthfeel 2/5

The intense creaminess in this beer makes a bold impression on the first sip.  The warmth of this beer threatens to overwhelm the entire brew.  Yes, barleywines should have a higher alcohol content in them, but we can all agree that they should also have more.  Much more.  Also, if this is to be an American style barleywine, then the hop presence is entirely lacking unless there are citrus-flavored hops entirely hidden by the other flavors.  This brew also leaves the mouth very slick.  Long story short?  Creamy, heavy, hot,  and slick.

Overall Impression 5/10

Some they got right, some they got wrong.  Overall, not a complex nuanced beer.  This is a beer that knows what it wants to do and that is to bull rush you.  It is too hot, too slick, and needs refinement.  The creaminess and color were amazing!  It is too bad it stopped there.  Flavor is dominated by warmth and caramelized orange.

Total  28/50

Sure we all enjoy a strong beer with high alcohol, but obviously there is more to it.  I want a beer that is going to essentially give my tongue a massage not twist it with pliers.  Strength is only good when controlled and applied properly and this beer makes that case.  The orange liquor flavor dominates with some sideshow flavors thrown in for good measure, but they are far from developing the overall flavor or theme of the beer.  Again, if this is an American barleywine, there is (at best) camouflaged hop flavor and absolutely no hop bitter.

I had too look it up, but I did find the info I sought.  This beer has "Diacetyl," or what the BJCP likes to define as "artificial butter, butterscotch, or toffee aroma and flavor.  Sometimes perceived as a slickness on the tongue."  I could not have described it better.

Maybe this beer is not what I expect because they used WHEAT in a BARLEYwine?  Not sure.  Doesn't matter.  I would definitely pass on this one.  There are some damn good barleywines out there and this one just does not come to compete.