New Holland Brewing Company Paleooza

**Aroma:** “Pleasant vanilla and light roasted coconut notes up front. A subtle wheat note peeks through, but overall the barrel dominates with caramel, butterscotch, and light tobacco. Moderate toasty and bready with very light floral hops.” **Flavor:** “Strong vanilla, dark chocolate marzipan, toffee, tart cherries, and butterscotch. Appropriate hops bitterness lingers. The bready and wheat flavor provides nice sweetness in the background of the oak and vanilla notes. Moderate eathy hops bitterness. The barrel works well with the relatively clean, but sweet and strong, wheatwine.” **Overall:** “Bold and flavorful. The barrel character is strong with vanilla and wood/oak character. The malt and wheat sweetness fall to the background of the bolder flavors in this beer. Exactly what you’d expect from a barrel-aged wheatwine.”

**Aroma:** “Floral hops aroma meets medium sweet malt with biscuit notes verging on caramel. Light esters of pear or peach and very subdued citrus notes. Mild floral hops, with a fair amount of peach. Musty yeast aromatics, low orange peel hops, lovely honey-bread crust malt, low but noticeable.” **Flavor:** “Full bodied with a sweeter malt finish and hops bitterness to match the body. Hops are mostly piney and resinous with a touch of lemon. Moderate hops flavor—peach, pear, and some cherry, with a proper bitter finish. Initial flavor is much more simple than aromatics suggest—a good surprise. Lovely.” **Overall:** “Well crafted, balanced pale ale. Hops flavor lingers into aftertaste with juicy citrus notes and fresh pine boughs. Right down the center of the style, an archetypal example. Carb makes the hops pop, and then the bitterness lingers. Great West Coast hops character. Nicely balanced beer. Stylewise it may be a bit bitter overall, but the malt complexity backs it up well.”

Aroma: “Malt sweetness with caramel and light rye. Medium hops that are a touch spicy with some floral perfume. Caramel, citrus, and pine hops with an almost coffee-like dryness.” Flavor: “Spicy floral hops (chrysanthemum) hit strong, then medium rich malt, then a solid wall of bitterness to wrap it up. Light bread character in the background.” Overall: “Lots going on in this beer. The rye character from the hops or grain is interesting and well-balanced. The bitterness balances out the spiciness and is complemented with a touch of carbonation. The classic caramel malt body has enough residual sweetness to keep it from being watery. If you’re a fan of brown ales, this beer has a roastiness that is pretty unique among the samples we’ve tried.”