New Holland Brewing, Grand Rapids MI (”The Knickerbocker” Location)

What a fun stop this was! The space itself was large and intriguing with lots of tree-lot imagery throughout. These photos don’t even show the bulk of the indoor area, which is beyond and even above the bar area.

All the beers I had in my flight were great:

From left to right, they were:

Golden Sails (American Lager), 5.3% – I usually find this style to be fairly bland, but this one was lively and interesting! I definitely considered it for a follow-up pint.

Tangerine Space Machine (NEIPA), 6.8% – It worked very well with the pizza I ordered, but see below for another NEIPA that – for me – was hands down the winner compared to this one.

Delightful Intent (Wild Ale), 3% – They had a few wild/sour ales on tap and I did enjoy this one. If I’d had the chance, I would have liked to try all the sours, but it was sort of a “pin the tail on the donkey” exercise to pick just one, and this was it.

Dutch Hustle (American Pale Ale), 5% – I did love this one (and will try to find a clone recipe to brew at home!). It was almost the winner for a pint, but … well, see below for what I actually did 😉

This location doesn’t have a large menu (unless you want an appetizer, which they have a lot of), so I ordered a 10″ pizza. It was good, although I still preferred the one I had at Dirt Road in Philomath OR, to be honest. However, the crust was crispy all over and was perfectly thin under the ingredients, so I definitely enjoyed it.

In the end, I opted for two 10oz pours of beers I didn’t have in the flight:

I was positive that I would have a hands-down favorite between these two, but I loved them both equally.

The left glass is their Hazy River (NEIPA), 5.9%, and it was, for my taste, far better than the first NEIPA I tried. I would absolutely have more of this one if it’s on draft somewhere.

The right glass is their Good for the Goat (Single Bock), 4.8%. I guess the closest thing I can recall having to this is a Schwarzbier or black lager, but this was better than any of those types I can remember drinking. As with the Hazy River, I’ll be all over this one should I see it again somewhere.

I’m in Grand Rapids still the next two days and it will be tough to pick places to go out of the myriad of options. I do want to get back to Guardian near Saugatuck, but otherwise, I’ll probably do something else in G.R. Stay tuned for the results. As of today, I’ve been to 22 places and tasted 104 beers in the first three weeks of this trip. Will I top 130 overall? We’ll see!

[Edit]

I did a bit of research today, trying to find clone recipes for the Dutch Hustle and the Good for the Goat, but discovered that these are one-off, small-batch brews made here at The Knickerbocker brewery for the enjoyment of the brewers. They won’t be repeated or distributed, ever, and they aren’t common enough for anyone to try to clone them. (If only my palate was more refined and my brewing skills more honed, I might be able to make a reasonable facsimile … but at least I have the fond memories!)