New Holland Beer Barrel Rye

A classic American Rye finished in ale casks to bring an earthy, hoppy notes.

One might think that a company called "New Holland" might be in the New York area. After all, the Dutch settled New York City, calling it New Amsterdam for a century. But no… New Holland Brewing and Artisan Spirits is based in Holland, Michigan. So I guess it makes sense anyway.

New Holland Brewing — and the more recent edition, New Holland Artisan Spirits — was founded in 1996 by two childhood friends: Jason Spaulding and Brett Vander Kamp. Perhaps not surprisingly, they started by brewing beer. Then they stated brewing a lot of it. Turns out, they were good at it and now they brew nearly 1 million barrels of beer per year across several varieties. In 2005 they expanded into Whiskey, Rum, and Gin, beginning sales of those products in 2008.

For decades, beer makers have aged some of their craft beers and ales in ex-Whiskey barrels to give them extra flavor. The folks at New Holland Brewery did the same thing. Then in 2013 they had an epiphany. They had just started producing Whiskey and they were aging it in new American white oak. Then they were using those new ex-Bourbon barrels to flavor their Dragon’s Milk Stout Ale. So, they flipped the process and finished their Bourbon in the same casks. So, the life of the casks is now Whiskey, then ale, then Whiskey again.

The process was a big hit and several distilleries have copied the technique since then. But in 2017 they brought the same process to their in-house Rye. New Holland Beer Barrel Rye is a bottle of spicy, hoppy-ness at 44% ABV.