Bottle from Highland 12-18-14

Bottle pours out amber topped with a sand head. Nose is oak barrel earthy hops and some sweet malts. Taste is more of the oak barrel forward notes earthy hops some grass and a sweet malt.

Copper and light amber coloured body with a very fast-dying one centimetre tall tan head. Aroma of oak (no kidding), flowers, light hops, peat, earth and some nice rye notes - very nice and not assertively hoppy at all. Medium-bodied; Assertive dry oaky and herbal notes throughout with a lot of grass and peat noticeable, some light fruits and a bit of caramel at the end. Aftertaste shows mostly a dry whiskey like flavour with a nice smooth body and some light fruity notes as well - no bitterness, no harshness and no alcohol flavours at all, really. Overall, a good beer with more of a earthy, oaky and dry flavour than that of an IPA - this could really be categorised in the English Pale or ESB section and I wouldn’t think twice about it - if I closed my eyes and drank this, I think I could be at a nice local pub in England, drinking a Real Ale on draught - a very nice and smooth beer with good flavour. I sampled this 65 cL bottle purchased from Liqour Outlet in Boonton, New Jersey on 06-July-2013 for US$4.31 sampled at home in Washington on 07-September-2013.

22 ounce bottle into signature pint glass, bottled on 5/9/2013. Pours crystal clear orange copper color with a 1-2 finger dense white head with good retention, that reduces to a small cap that lingers. Spotty soapy lacing clings down the glass. Aromas of grapefruit, orange zest, lemon zest, floral, pine, vanilla, toffee, oak, caramel, light clove, and floral earthiness. Very nice aromas with good balance of hop, malt, and barrel character; with good strength. Taste of grapefruit, orange zest, lemon zest, floral, pine, vanilla, toffee, oak, caramel, light clove, and floral earthiness. Light pine bitterness on the finish; with lingering notes of citrus, citrus zest, pine, vanilla, toffee, oak, caramel, and light clove on the finish for a good bit. Very nice balance and complexity of hop notes with barrel character; with moderate malt balance and zero cloying flavors after the finish. Medium carbonation and body; with a creamy, fairly crisp, and lightly sticky mouthfeel that is nice. Alcohol is very well hidden with no warming noticed after the finish. Overall this is a very nice barrel aged IPA! Very nice balance of hop notes, malt, and barrel character; and very smooth to drink. A very enjoyable offering.

Draft sample @ ThreeFires. Caramel malt, oak, and orange hops aroma. Clear copper with a small white head. Sweet orange hops, caramel malt, oak, and vanilla flavor. Medium body, soft carbonation.

20th August 2011
Hazy amber beer, small cream coloured head. A little crispy and dry. Bitter start! Bitter brett and bitter orange. This bitterness sits on a vanilla oak background. Finishes crisp with more bitterness. hangs together fine but easily the most bitter oak aged IPA I’ve had.

Bottle as shown. Pours a cloudy orange with a small off white head leaving spotty lacing. The aroma is oak and bready malt. Thin mouthfeel with a sweet malt and light resin hop with nice crisp finish and light bitterness. Easy to drink a very impressive IPA from New Holland.

From the July 3R6P tasting. +++ Sampled from a 22 oz brown bottle this beer poured a hazy golden-amber color with a large foamy orange-white head that left decent lacing. The aroma was pine, nut, bread and faint coconut. The flavor was lemon, pine, wood, tangy faint fruits and coconut. The finish was medium length tangy wood, coconut and citrus. Medium body. Ok.

Bomber pour into pint. Nose doesn’t give indication of bourbon. Bourbon in taste, but hops are not there. Hints of wood, smoke, malt. I enjoyed it even though it was not the hoppy IPA I was expecting.

Hazy dark copper pour with a medium bone white head that diminishes steadily. Partial rings of lacing on the glass. Aroma of oak, caramel and yeast. Light to medium body with an oaky character and notes of caramel malt, yeast and herbal hops. The finish is dry and hoppy. Overall the oak aging is nuanced enough that it strikes a nice balance. Pretty good overall.