For this duel I’ve chosen a pair of creamy stouts. While walking around Milwaukee’s East side, I ran into a bottle shop I don’t normally frequent, Downer Avenue Wine & Spirits, and found a Nitro S’mores from Southern Tier Brewing. As a quick side note, this shop had a nice little selection of single beer options, and I’d definitely recommend it if you’re in the area looking for a couple interesting brews.
Up against the Nitro S’mores, I grabbed the ever-popular Dragon’s Milk from New Holland Brewing. On the surface, you might look a these two beers and think they have little in common, one is barrel-aged, and the other is a nitro dessert stout. But if you dig a little deeper, you see they both have a creamy character to them, and higher ABV’s at 10/11 percent. So the pairing, while unique, definitely has some similarities.
HopDuel Survey
| Better label | New Holland Dragon’s Milk |
| Better aroma | Souther Tier Nitro S’mores |
| Better taste | Souther Tier Nitro S’mores |
| Better finish | Souther Tier Nitro S’mores |
| Winner | Souther Tier Nitro S’mores |
Tell us about it
Run, don’t walk, to your local shop and get yourself a Southern Tier Nitro S’mores. If they don’t carry it, ask them to. This beer is truly outstanding! The aroma is akin to a lightly boozy chocolate milk, the vanilla and graham cracker taste is a delight to the buds, and the rich, creamy finish is fantastic. I really wanted to give New Holland’s Dragon Milk a category or two after the label, but in comparison to the Nitro S’mores I just couldn’t do it. In it’s own right, Dragon’s Milk is delicious. A bourbon barrel-aged creamy dream come true (um, that sounds kind of gross, but not like that). But when you stack it up against the Nitro S’mores, it just couldn’t compete. If anyone has tried these two beers, I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments below.
HopDuel 