93. New Holland Golden Cap Saison Ale

Our first beer from New Holland Brewing, located in Holland, MI. Holland is home to the Tulip Time Festival; held yearly every mid-May since 1929, it is the largest tulip festival in the United States.

Golden Cap’s nose has citrus, spicy, and light sour notes; it is a cloudy golden color with a creamy white head. The mouthfeel is gentle and creamy, with light carbonation and bite in the middle to end of the beer. The front is a candy sweet malt flavor, followed by Belgian ester flavors and spicy and slightly sour flavors as the beer moves towards the middle. It ends crisp with a bite from the yeast flavors—tart and peppery. Golden Cap does have some very Belgian qualities and characteristics, specifically in the estery qualities and the candy malt sweetness, and it does get more Belgian as it warms. Nonetheless, a crisp, bright, and refreshing beer, even as a mix between a saison and a Belgian ale.

From the bottle: “As the story goes, the charm of the Cap hails an otherwise mischievous band of winged-monkeys to carry out any three commands its owner wishes, such as carrying your from the vast scarlet poppy fields to Emerald City, or even to the comfort of a country farmhouse.

Golden Cap Saison is a modern interpretation of a traditional farmhouse ale. A soft, pale beer, Golden Cap embodies the flavors and aromas of summer fields. Brewed with an ancestor to wheat called spelt, and bottle-conditioned, its straw colored body, accentuated with lively carbonation and a unique fermentation profile, evoke fresh cut hay and cracked peppercorn.”

ABV: 7.0%
OG: 18.5° P

(10/1/2009)