New Holland "Dragon's Milk Reserve" Stout (2022 Reserve 2)

I enter this review with significant trepidation. When I grabbed this off the shelf, I was intrigued to see that they had some special version of Dragon's Milk available. It wasn't until I got home that I saw that it was barrel aged (great), had cookies, coffee, caramel, and cinnamon. It is the coffee that is really making me fear trying this beverage. I very much like Dragon's Milk, and I don't want this to wind up tasting like coffee. I hope it doesn't.

The black beverage produces significantly more head than I expected. Most of these barrel aged beers have their carbonation sucked right out of them while they're sitting in barrels for a while, but that does not appear to be case here. Instead, the off-white head is pretty thick and full of tiny bubbles, and those minuscule bubbles leave a light dusting on part of the top of the beer with a decent ring around the sides. There is a going to be lacing, but that's not what this beer's about. The aroma smells like coffee. This is gonna suck.

First sip reveals that the coffee isn't the only thing running the show, but it is way too much. Yes, I can taste the caramel, but I'm not sure I can taste any cookies or even something as usually noticeable as cinnamon. Instead, I'm getting coffee with coffee with a little bit of coffee. I don't like coffee, and I don't want it in my beer. Maybe I should go back to the beer store and pick myself up a regular Dragon's Milk so that I can enjoy what I remember being an excellent beer. I really need to start reading the labels better.

Bottom Line: Not for me.

0.75/5