Dragon's Milk, New Holland Brewing Company

Today’s beer comes from New Holland Brewing Company, which is based in Holland Michigan.  This city has another, more hidden claim to fame in that all those WWJD bracelets you saw in the 90s got their start here.  I want to point out that “Holland,” even though many people treat it as a synonym of “The Netherlands,” is actually only one region in that country.  Using those terms interchangeably is kind of like calling Massachusetts “Boston” or Iceland “Reykjavik.”  Anyway, the brewery this city in Michigan houses brews a stout called Dragon’s Milk.

Wow, that's dark!

That, is a dark beer.  It doesn’t produce a huge head, but what head it does have is thick and creamy.  You smell a lot of charred malt, but not in an overly harsh way.  It entices you with the promise of being a stout that won’t hurt you.  This promise is tested when you sip.  The first word that comes to mind is “bam,” with all the imagery of Emeril Lagasse throwing a handful of garlic into a flaming pan attached.  The dark, roasty flavors make themselves known along side a prominent 10% ABV.  But that’s not the whole story.  The assault doesn’t continue after that initial burst.  It’s like someone who comes off as crass and ill mannered but turns out to be a nice guy with lots of interesting things to say.  This anti-judgement lesson goes even further when you take into account my second pour.

Hmm...  Something's different...

After warming up a bit, a much larger head was drawn from the bottle, leading to a denser smellscape.  Not necessarily more aromas, but it’s a lot easier to smell them.  Back to that taste, though.  Even though the alcohol and sharp char hit you pretty hard, they get out of the way and let you enjoy your beer, resulting in an overall experience that is not harsh at all.  I’ve mentioned before that most stouts either lean more towards dark chocolate or black coffee.  Dragon’s Milk sidesteps these two by putting the emphasis on malts that taste dark themselves rather than like other dark things.  The clone recipe that’s been floating around for several years now includes crystal malts at 80 and 120 lovibond.  To put that in perspective for non brewers, the first chart on this web page categorizes anything greater than 25L in the “start of full black” segment.  That’s even before you add in the chocolate malt, which clocks in around 350L!

Overall, Dragon’s Milk is a fantastic beer.  It illustrates quite clearly the paradox between the burnt flavors and unfermentable sugars of the darker malts.  (Although that clone recipe does include flaked oats and wheat malt that could be adding some enticement...)  Last week I spent some time musing on beers possibly representing a certain political personality and that was a lot of fun.  Dragon’s Milk brings a certain person to my mind and that would be Mitch Mahoney.  Yes, the scary comfort counselor who escorts the eliminated contestants from the 25th annual Putnam County spelling bee stage.  He may be an ex-convict clocking community service hours, but his heart is in the right place as he tries to help the kids deal with their loss.  Dragon’s Milk may not be a wheat beer, but it strives to comfort you with smooth encouragement even though it comes from a rough style.  That makes it all the more touching.