New Holland Black Tulip Tripel Ale

Brewery: New Holland Brewing Co
Location: Holland, MI
Style: Tripel
ABV: 10.5%
Beer Apostle' Grade: A-

New Holland's Black Tulip is a Belgian Tripel that was first released in '98. It might be hard to imagine, but back then, waaayy back in the 90s, craft beer wasn't really all that popular, and Belgian beers were better for...well, Belgium! But New Holland stayed its course and now produces one of the more respected Tripel ales on the market.

The commercial description reads:

Mysterious, alluring and seductive, yet tantalizingly elusive; these are the storied characteristics of the Black Tulip.

Speaking of mysterious, I am at a loss in determining the correct ABV for Black Tulip. New Holland's website has it listed at 8.8%. Beeradvocate and RateBeer list it at 9%, and the label on the bottle claims a 10.5%. I'm taking my wife's advice and assuming bigger is better in this case.

Appearance: An opaque copper with minimal head that fades quickly.

Aroma: Bubble gum, Belgian spices (clove, coriander, lemon, honey). Alcohol scent is detectable, but not overly strong.

Taste: Banana and alcohol is a pretty good synopsis here, though that's a bit minimalistic of me to leave the description at that. The banana flavors, which is common with some Belgian yeast strands, is front and center on the palate. Once the beer heads to the back, I pick up apple and lemon notes. These fruity flavors blend nicely into a white-wine-like finish that gives a mild booze warmth in the back of the throat. There's that 10.5% we were talking about!

Mouthfeel: Smooth, crisp, and creamy. Everything is perfectly balanced about the body of this beer.

Overall: For the style, this is an excellent beer. There's not much I can complain about besides, maybe, the overt booziness. But, come on, is that really something to complain about? I can see why Black Tulip received a perfect rating of 100 by the Beeradvocate "Bros," but yet received scores of 87 and 84 by the Beeradvocate and RateBeer public, respectively. I instinctively respect this beer because I know it's true to the style; however, I wasn't blown away of transformed at any point during the consumption of this beer. It's good. Just good.

I want to thank Ryan L (@ryan_leisure). for sending me this beer. I have heard so many great things about New Holland beer; I'm very grateful for having the opportunity to sample and review Black Tulip. Cheers to you, Ryan!

Thanks for reading the Beer Apostle and for supporting craft beer! Join in on the discussion by following me on Twitter and Facebook! Cheers!

Westvleteren XII US Release: Gone before it was ever Released?

Westvleteren XII is regarded by many as being the best beer on this planet. It has a perfect 100 rating on both beeradvocate.com and ratebeer.com. It has been voted as the #1 beer by several beer and consumer polls. This Belgian Abbey is brewed by monks (literally) and has been making the world's highest rated beer since 1940.
Westvleteren XII has never reached American soil (legally) until now. Less than 8000 six packs, or gift packs (each six pack will include two souvenir glasses), have been distributed to the US and many of these gift packs will be sold at the chain, Total Wine and More for a whopping $85--many believe this is actually a good deal.
As the news spread, many people jumped with joy in anticipating. I imagine beernerds around the country were shouting, "The Westies are coming! The Westies are coming!" No longer do little boys and girls need to hope for a beer trade with Santa. On December 12, anyone who stands in line at their local TWM at least has a shot at purchasing their own six pack of the Holy (again, literally) juice. At least that's what everyone was told.
After announcing TWM would be selling the beer in 9 states on 12.12.12, some stores actually sold some of the gift packs early. Beerstreetjournal.com reported that several Total Wine stores sold the gift packs on December 1st--nearly two weeks early! This has upset many and left others wondering whether the stores will even have any to sell on the 12th.
Like I have seen so many times, this looks like a classic case of store employees taking cases home for themselves and selling the rest to their friends. It's another example of a highly anticipated beer release going out to the people on the inside, leaving the average folk like you and me left with our hearts broken and mouths watering.