Cabin Fever

As most of you know, the Northern Virginia/Washington, D.C. area has been slammed with several snowfalls that have virtually crippled this area. A week later and we are still trying to dig out from under the mess that Mother Nature (MN) left us. We were pretty well prepared for this type of thing having grown up in Connecticut and spending time in Central Pennsylvania, we’re very accustomed to heavy snowfalls and the associated hunkering down and the subsequent digging out.

While we were picking up those last minute things at the local megamart to tide us over during the last blast from MN, Ms Cocktail spied something on the shelf of the beer aisle and brought it to my attention. It was a beer from the New Holland Brewery called Cabin Fever. She said that if there was ever a beer calling out to us, this was the one. I heartily agreed, knowing that being cooped up in my house for over a week would certainly lead to a case of Cabin Fever.

New Holland Cabin Fever is a seasonal brew, only available during the winter months. Now I am familiar with several of the offerings from the New Holland Brewery from Holland, Michigan and given their track record, I was expecting an excellent brew. While I could (and did) put away a bunch of these, I wouldn’t necessarily go out of my way to find them either. Cabin Fever (not to be confused with the Cabin Fever offerings of at least five other breweries) is called a brown ale but it is not typical of the style.

It starts out much darker than your typical brown ale. It is a deep mahogany red/brown that is closer to a porter in color than a typical brown ale. When poured it has a small head that dissipates rather quickly leaving a touch of sticky lace behind. On the nose you get a bit of molasses and chocolate with an earthy undertone. On the palate, the sensation of molasses and chocolate continues with some nuttiness as a counterpoint to the sweetness. The mouthfeel is a bit silky, the beer isn’t syrupy but it does have a bit more consistency that water, that is broken down a touch by a light, fizzy carbonation. This beer is also high in alcohol for the brown ale style, coming in at 6% ABV. Overall this is a very good beer, not a great beer.