Magazines » May/June 2009 Issue » Brewery Spotlight: New Holland Brewing Co.
Traditionally, Holland, Mich. is known for its Tulip Time Festival, Dutch dancing, and wooden shoes. One thing it wasn’t known for, until recently, was its beer. After all, this was a town that maintained the prohibition of Sunday beer sales until it was finally overturned last November. For New Holland Brewing’s Jason Spaulding and Brett VanderKamp, college buddies who founded the brewery in 1997, the upended law was a big victory; an affirmation that the town accepted a local craft brewery that had already made waves nationwide.
“I think what we’ve done is show that alcohol can be a craft, that drinking it is a cultural experience that should be championed and that the problems associated with drinking aren’t associated with all drinkers,” says Fred Bueltmann, a partner at New Holland. “We’ve been able to stand up and be an advocate for our industry, and I do think that Brett and Jason’s vision was on. What they started contributed to Holland seeing us as part of the community.”
And they do it by producing some of the country’s most delectable beers under the guidance of brewmaster John Haggerty. In their 23,000-square foot main brewing facility located on the north side of town, Haggerty leads his team using a sometimes-difficult 60-hectoliter system that was made in Germany and predates World War II.
“It was a little bit of a trick getting it to do what we wanted it to do because they build their equipment to do one thing specifically, which is to make Pilsner beer,” Haggerty says. “But it’s working well now.”
If New Holland’s lineup of brews is any indication of the status of its equipment, it seems the archaic brewing system is always working well. The brewery, which distributes to 12 states, packages four year-round beers, including Mad Hatter, an IPA; Full Circle, a kölsch; Sundog, an amber ale; and The Poet, an oatmeal stout. While Mad Hatter is its best-selling beer, the brewery is best known for Dragon’s Milk, an oak-barrel-aged ale that always finds its way to industry “best of” lists (including our own). And the list continues: There’s a line of Library Beers, a High Gravity Series, seasonals (including Ichabod, a pumpkin ale that’s gained a local cult following), and a micro-distillery located in the brewery’s downtown pub location, pumping out gin and brandy.
For the most part, Bueltmann attributes the overflowing creativity of the brewery to the relationship those at the helm of New Holland have with its nearly 60 employees.
“I think there’s an overall theme of artistic perspective,” explains Bueltmann. “We challenge our employees to empower their creative side. Our approach to everything we do is done with a sense of balance.
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This article originally appeared in the May/June 2009 Issue of DRAFT Magazine
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