Review 165: New Holland Michigan Hatter

Review 165

6/9/13

New Holland Michigan Hatter: ?% abv

Background: Well, we’ve been doing great on not having information for our reviews. This would fall into that realm, because we don’t have a clue what the abv on this beer is. Now, our friendly neighbors at New Holland are very much a hit or miss brewery, producing some really kickass beers. On the other end of the spectrum, it would be safe to say they have made some pretty disappointing beers as well. We would like to word it differently, but we don’t sugarcoat any of this. So imagine where that puts this beer…The Michigan Hatter, sits in the Hatter range as an IPA which contains exclusively Michigan Cascade hops. Sounds like a novel idea from a drinker’s perspective, right? Let’s find out.

Nose: The nose starts off with a sense of sweetness, complemented by an obvious hoppiness. There are fruity notes of baked plantain, pears and cantaloupe. There is a note of vanilla, some honeysuckle floral notes and some pine-like notes, probably derived from the hops. There is an acidic note of lemon that comes through, rather sweet and not terribly tart. After letting the beer open up, there is a note of wheat that comes through in the undertones of the aromas.

Arrival: The arrival to this beer is pretty eventless, so far as we can tell. It can almost be depicted as watery, which a light hops influence. It has a sort of bitter, quinine soda-water type flavor to it.

Body: There is a relatively short body, with suggestions of wheat, hops, pine and pear. It still has an extremely light mouth-feel with hardly much flavor.

Finish: The finish is rather short, which sums up the experience of the entire beer. The finish is powerfully grainy with yeast and wheat taking over. There is still some pine and hoppiness coming through.

Final Comments:  So, halfway through this review, we kind of gave up on any sort of thorough depiction of this thing. The reason being is we didn’t at all like this. The complexity, after the nose, was lost upon us and replaced with sheer blandness, and even so much as poor flavor. This is not an expensive beer, which is good considering how much we didn’t drink of it. The best description we could produce for this beer is hops-flavored soda water. It sits right above some of those well-beloved lager friends our macrobreweries are literally spewing out, minus the maltiness that remains present in a lager. Nothing good to say about this one. Sorry.

Why you’d buy it:.You wouldn’t.

Why you wouldn’t:  Everything.

Score: 5.0/10

Review 153: Short's Hopstache

Review 153

4/2/13

Short’s Hopstache: 6.0% abv

Background: For a second, let’s take a look at the history of Short’s Brewing Company. In Bellaire, Michigan, a brewer by the name of Joe Short purchased an empty hardware store. In the first year, there was only 178 barrels of production. In 2008, Short’s capacity increased to 8,000 to 10,000 barrels per annum. Here ends the history of Short’s Brewing Company. Short’s says they intend to stay small and focus on the Michigan area, producing quality mom and pop style beers. This is a pretty young brewery, but you can bet they have seen more popularity in the last few years.

Nose: The nose contains substantial notes of lemon, lime, and grapefruit, obviously. It has a tart, green apple note in it with a hoppy presence and a definitively floral and earthy, although it is well balanced in this manner. It also contains a little bit of a fresh grass smell to it. This is a pretty fresh nose which opens up the welcoming arms to spring, despite the fact that Michigan refuses to acknowledge this invitation. 

Arrival: Well there’s a lot of grapefruit here. There is slight apple note, and some interesting wheat grain there. There is a mild citrus in the arrival, but otherwise this is a pretty weak arrival. There is nothing really all that special about this arrival. There are also no mustaches.

Body: Besides having grapefruit, there is a small introduction of hops, but this becomes more prevalent in the finish. Otherwise, the body is also horribly anticlimactic, lacking any sort of event to it. We were sorely disappointed in the complexity, although the balance is satisfactory.

Finish: You guessed it: hops and grapefruit. There is a hint of grain in the finish as well, as you get a sense for a dry, bitter ending. Sweet lemon is also in here as well. It is a medium length finish, and the beer comes off very refreshing. It certainly comes off as a summer beer by any standards.

Final Comments: As we said before, this beer shouldn’t take you more than three big gulps to finish, as this is no Stone IPA. There are no mustaches to be found in this entire beer, and frankly, with the standard set by microbrewery IPAs, this does not match their intensity or complexity. We look for something more out of an IPA, and this should sit in a Pale Ale shelf.

Why you’d buy it: Because everybody else is.

Why you wouldn’t: You want to drink an IPA

Score: 7.0/10

Review 24: Founders Dry-Hopped Pale Ale

Review 24
4/19/12
Founders Dry-Hopped Pale Ale: 5.4% abv

With a tradition of very exciting and original names, Founders brings us a dry-hopped pale ale. The nose on this beer is filled with traditional pale ale characters, having pineapple, grapefruit, honey, and cinnamon. It has to be said though that there is a slight off-putting scent in this beer, characterized as drying paint. It was not prominent and most would not notice it. The taste is hoppy, salty, with characters such as wood, malt, lemon, lime, pine and even some sprite. Although this is true, there is a watery character to the beer, which stands out like a hole in a bathroom stall. The finish is medium short, with malt, wood, and lemon-lime characters. The finish is pleasant, which makes it all the more disappointing when it's gone in two seconds. So for this one, the watery character, possibly intrinsic to the alcohol content, along with the shorter finish, really knocks this otherwise pleasant beer down. 

Score: 8.0/10

Review 22: Founders Centennial IPA

Review 22
4/17/12
Founders Centennial IPA: 7.2% abv

The first thing that stood out about this beer was the balance of the fragrances. It can be noted that in an IPA, generally a floral, bitter, grapefruit nose comes through, but the floral bit can be quite overpowering. In this one, it isn't. The nose contains lemon, pine, sugarcane, malt, pineapple and honey as well as the previously mentioned characters. It is a fresh nose and extremely well balanced and complex. As far as the taste goes, it is disappointingly less complex. The grapefruit, lemon, and honey stick through to the taste, but unfortunately the taste lacks depth. Other tasting notes include juniper berries, and cherry on the arrival. The finish is bitter as an IPA finish is, with primarily lemon and grapefruit concluding. 

Not bad, not my favorite. The complexity in the nose leads to a higher expectation of flavors in the taste, in my opinion. 

Score: 8.0/10

Review 15: Founders All Day IPA

Review 15
4/9/12
Founders All Day IPA Session Ale: 4.7% abv

This is an India Pale Ale, and there is a car on the bottle. I don't know why. Anyway. This has a nice floral nose, with peaches, apple, lemon, grapefruit, and slight ginger. The nose is extremely pleasant and easy. In the taste, there is hops, grapefruit, citrus, nutmeg and some herbal, floral notes. The finish is medium, but not complex, with a contrasting sweet and bitter combination, and with lemon jumping out. This is a nice beer that is easy to drink. Unfortunately, the complexity of this beer doesn't measure up to the Mad Hatter IPA from New Holland. 

Score: 8/10

Review 8: New Holland Mad Hatter

Review 8
4/1/12
New Holland Mad Hatter: 5.25% abv

This is an India Pale Ale and it is evident on first smell. The nose is complex with strong floral notes, pear, grapes, lemon, sugar, and sweet spice. The taste is hoppy, has lemon, strong notes of grapefruit, mint, and cinnamon. The finish is medium long and is VERY bitter, with lemon, juniper berries, grapefruit and is slightly salty. The bitter characteristics of an IPA can turn some people off to them, but if you can get past that, the complexity is worth enjoying. 

Score: 8.5/10