Dragon’s Milk, a strong ale, from New Holland Brewing is part of New Holland’s High Gravity Series and is considered one of the flagship beers for the brewery. This a beer which I have had on draft once before but have since forgotten what it tastes like. So, for this review I’m refreshing my memory using a bottle poured into a glass, I know…take pity on me.

Dragon’s Milk is black, as it should be, with about an inch of head that leaves a decent lacing down the glass as you consume the beer. The beer smells of vanilla with oak and dark chocolate. My first sniff of the beer the alcohol hit me right away, but as I smell it now I’m not as susceptible to it. As this beer is aged in oak, the smell of that continues to dominate, but is lessened by the vanilla.

The oak flavor shows up in a big way at the first sip of this beer. As it sits in your mouth the oak flavor subsides and the caramel malt, vanilla and chocolate start to come through. It is a soft, creamy and not at all a harsh flavor. Once the beer hits the back of your mouth there is a definite alcohol presence but it vanishes quickly.

Dragon’s Milk is a good beer, no question. You could have multiple pints of it and be perfectly happy and not get tired of it. The oak character is overbearing at times and if toned down, I think that New Holland could have a truly great, balanced beer.

Overall: 8/10