Purchased: 22oz bottle, purple label, from Binny's in IL; 2012 (2011 Vintage)
Style/ABV: Fruit Beer (barrel aged!), 7.5%
Reported IBUs: ?
I love those random liquor store purchases. I had heard good things about New Holland's Blue Sunday Sour, so when I saw the slightly less regarded Envious on the shelf, I said "why not." My bottle says: "Vintage 2011." I thought that, perhaps, this beer was supposed to be a year old...after all, it is part of New Holland's cellar series. I guess the joke is on me. So here is to hoping this beer ages well (knock on wood for that bottle conditioning). It's aged on raspberries in oak, so I have high hopes. About New Holland:
New Holland Brewing Company are a Midwest brewery based out of Holland, Michigan. The brewery was founded in 1996, and they produce about 10,000 barrels annually. They have a handful of staples, including their Mad Hatter IPA and their The Poet Stout, and they also have a handful of seasonal offerings.
The bottle says "ale brewed with pear juice, with raspberries added, and aged on oak." I like all these things, so what could go wrong. If you check out New Holland's Envious page (or blog post, really), you can get some info on the beer. As already stated, this is part of the brewery's cellar series. This beer uses Michigan pears to "fuel a second fermentation," and is supposed to provide some balance between grain and fruit. The beer is then aged on oak and raspberries for depth and tartness. It's getting repetitive in here, so let's pour this and see what's up.
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| New Holland Envious (2011 Vintage) |
The pour reveals a dark, swampy beer. I'd describe the body of this beer as a swampy purple/brown color in low light. You get 2-fingers of reluctant head, and the head is fairly thick. The head has a nice khaki/purple color reflecting the body. While the head did not want to form on the pour, it's holding out nicely, with a centimeter coating sticking around. In bright light the body is a murky purple/brown with hints of orange on the sides. There's a lot of lively carbonation in the form of tiny bubbles around the edges of the glass, and that centimeter of head is hanging around like a champ. [Also: I HATE FOIL!!!]
The aroma is surprisingly malty. I'm reminded of Dogfish Head's Fort. I'm getting super dense, sticky, sweetness on the nose. I'm pulling out some raspberry, and definitely some of that earthy pear aroma. You get...like...pear skin, and unripe pear, and even earthy pear goodness when you bite into a pear. If you're at all familiar with pears, you'll know what I'm talking about. Pears are weird fruits. I'm getting some woody tannins, and some PHAT malts? At least, I think so. I'm pulling out some caramel/Twizzler, but it's bordering on berries, prunes, and even blackberry jam. It's like...oxidized dark fruits, and bready malts.
The taste follows through the nose, with a lot of pear juice in the mix. You get a wash of that caramel/toffee/Twizzler malt kick, but I'm really pulling out waves of fruits. Specifically, prune juice. This tastes a lot like prune juice. I'm also getting huge blackberry/raspberry jam, like the homemade shit my grandma used to make. There's maybe a hint of grain and booze, and some woody tannins throughout. I'm getting a hint of oak on the back end. This is mildly acidic, but not very sour/tart.
The wood starts to build up on your palate as you work through this, and it plays off whatever tartness is hiding in this beer. There's even some hint of roast or smoke coming out. This is a medium-full to full beer, and that is partially thanks to the very minimal and thin carbonation. This beer reminds me of a wine, or a thick Dubbel, or even a strong, dark Bock. Complexity is moderate, and palate depth is good. Up front is bready malt and thick oxidized dark fruits; this rolls into pears, prunes, syrupy raspberry, berries, more dark fruits and bread; the back end is lingering dark fruits, bread/toffee/caramel, with hints of roast/smoke. There is some booziness in my belly, and the wood builds on the finish with some tannins and tartness.
Rating: Average
I like it, I don't love it, this is a Strong Average for me. Your mileage may vary. It's possible this was more tart a year ago, but right now this is leaning towards those oxidized dark fruits, and big bready/toffee/caramel/Twizzler malts. You get some nice pear, prune, and syrupy raspberry in the mix. I would compare this beer to a lighter red wine (maybe a Merlot?), and in that respect this beer would work well with a number of foods. I'd serve this beer with rare steak, pasta with red sauce, duck, or roasted turkey/chicken. And some purple potatoes. I think I paid...too much. This was over 10 dollars, probably around 11-14 (I can't remember). I would NOT pay that for this beer, and I probably won't pursue this again.
Random Thought: While I do the beer thing, my girlfriend has been slowly doing the wine thing. I don't know anything about wine, except that I like the way it tastes. A refined palate is a refined palate, but knowledge comes with repetition, practice, and experience. I look forward to pursuing wine in the future....it can only enhance my appreciation for beer.
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