Michigan’s New Holland Brewing released a trio of springtime ales recently, featuring the spring seasonal Full Circle Kölsch-style Ale as well as the 15-packs of both Tangerine Space Machine Hazy IPA and Lightpoint Functional White Ale. The brewery sent me samples of the Tangerine Space Machine and the Full Circle, and with spring in full swing it’s a great time for beer reviews of them.

Full Circle Kölsch-style Ale

Full Circle is New Holland’s spring seasonal, and the website notes that it is the brewers’ favorite beer. It’s 4.4% ABV and here’s a bit more about it from the earlier press release:

Full Circle is New Holland’s take on a tried-and-true German classic; a clean and crisp Kölsch-style ale. An easy drinking beer that features simple, high-quality ingredients, Full Circle is a refreshing take on a balanced classic. Full Circle is a New Holland legacy brand dating back over 20 years, and remains one of the brewery’s most popular brews.

“Full-Circle has always been one of our top-performing beers, and we’re excited for the 2022 release,” O’Rourke said. “Its clean, crisp, refreshing flavor is perfect for those spring cold snap months and compliments the change to warmer weather perfectly.”

Appearance: Pale yellow, good clarity, fluffy and lacy white foamy head.

Smell: Light bread dough with earthy and grassy-spicy hops. Biscuit notes with bread, that’s subtle and clean; very light esters evoking some green berries.

Taste: Flatbread crust with a lightly corny tang and just enough herbal bitterness to balance the malt and leave a hint of peppery greens on the palate. Some residual breadiness as well, with maybe a hint of lemon/citrus.

Mouthfeel: Light, crisp, and fairly clean.

Overall: This is a nice drinker with good flavors; I could go for a bit more bitterness/hops but it’s a good hot weather beer.

Tangerine Space Machine Hazy IPA

New Holland’s year-round hazy IPA offering is brewed with tangerine (puree, presumably) and comes in at 6.8% with 40 IBUs. The website description says:

Launch yourself into a whirlpool of hops and fruit. Tangerine Space Machine’s haze lowers the bitterness of the beer while accentuating the galaxy hops’ fruit forward flavor.

Aside from Galaxy, the website doesn’t list what hops are used in TSM; according to the description on Untappd, it’s a blend of Galaxy, Topaz and Michigan Copper hops. I don’t believe I’ve heard of Michigan Copper before; this site says it’s “a Chinook cross that is a vigorous super-aroma hop with very fragrant floral and tropical fruit aromas and flavors” and exhibits characteristics of fruit punch, black cherry, red hard candy, pineapple, and hibiscus.

Appearance: Dark gold color with orange hues, something akin to fruit juice. Creamy off-white head.

Smell: It does smell like tangerine, nicely juicy like fresh-squeezed fruit, and tangerine zest. Citrusy hops with a hint of spice and floral citrus blossoms.

Taste: Zesty green hops with citrus oil and tangerine juice over a soft, almost oily-oaty malt body that’s got a bit of biscuit character. Good fruity character without feeling like a fruit beer, with just enough hoppiness to ticket the IPA funnybone (but not hugely so). It goes a bit savory-green (light cannabis or dank) in the end.

Mouthfeel: Medium-bodied with soft, almost creamy texture.

Overall: Nice, it delivers on the “juice” promise of such a hazy, and satisfying.

Two nice beers worth seeking out if you can find them in your area. Also watch for my boilermaker reviews to come, featuring both of these paired with New Holland’s flavored Beer Barrel Bourbons.