Gritty McDuff's Halloween Ale

Halloween Ale

 

Gritty McDuff's in Portland, Maine, United States 🇺🇸

  Bitter - ESB / Strong Bitter Regular
Score
6.50
ABV: 6.0% IBU: 45 Ticks: 16
Technically speaking, this ale can be described as an Extra Special Bitter. What that really means is that more of everything that goes into our bitter is added to the Halloween Ale -- more imported barley and more fresh Goldings hops from East Kent in England. This strong ale is also given some extra time in the conditioning tank, allowing it to mellow considerably.
 

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5.6
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 6 | Flavor - 5 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 5.5

Location: 12 oz bottle from Buy Rite - Jersey City, 10/24/10

Aroma: The nose is caramel malts, a little bit of spice, and some light floral notes
Appearance: It pours a mahogony color with a creamy tan head and some spotty lace
Flavor: The flavor is medium (plus) sweet up-front, herbal and bitterness on the finish
Palate: The body is medium, it has a that British ESB feel to it, and a somewhat sticky feel
Overall Impression: This is an alright ESB. The flavor is OK, and there isn't anything particularly wrong with it, but it isn't so exciting either. Just a boring ESB. It drinks alright I guess, but something about it just doesn't work that well.

Tried from Bottle on 24 Oct 2010 at 14:29


7.8
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8

Amber pour. Clear. Nose is spiced malt. Has a hint of pumpkin in the taste. Rated 9/23/04

Tried on 02 May 2010 at 15:12


7
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 8

Bottle courtesy of Tony @ OTH. Pours copperish with beige head. Taste is light, sweet, malty with light butterscotch, lactose in aftertaste and very light coffee notes. Medium body.

Tried from Bottle on 24 Sep 2008 at 22:21


6.5
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 5 | Flavor - 6 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 7

Pours a deep amber into a shaker. Tan, medium to micro head looks like pancake batter as it quickly recedes. Sharp, sour yellow cake batter aromas (if it looks like batter, and it smells like batter...it better not taste like batter)...Upfront creamy candy corns turns to a lasting bitter hop finish.

Tried from Can on 26 Sep 2006 at 18:02


5.9
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 6 | Flavor - 6 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 5.5


2004 bottle. Well it pours a dark copper, burgundy brownish color with a rapidly fleeting beige head. Notes of light hops and dry nutty notes. Some yeast as well. Flavor definitely sticks with you; it’s bitter and has a light malt sweetness, but it’s faint and only appears on the finish. Mostly some yeast and lots of hoppiness and spiciness. Medium body, not too much carbonation, but still too filtered. A bit tinny on the end. Could use some more fruitiness from more of an Enlgish yeast apparency, as well as more malt.

October 28th 2005 draught at Grittys in Portland. Moderate amount of beige head atop a filtered deep brownish-ruby body. Smells of sweet malts, toffee, caramel, chocolate. No yeast, barely any hops. Simple texture, with draught carbonation adding most of the mouthfeel, just a light touch of sticky sugars otherwise. Didnt get any alcohol apparency out of this one, but I could see that happening on nitro. Boring and nowhere near close to any malt depth, but not offensive. 6/3/5/3/10

Tried from Bottle on 04 Dec 2004 at 00:34


6.2
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 6 | Flavor - 6 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 6

Bright orangey-amber; aroma is a mix of allspice & caramel. Fairly alcoholic palate, with fruity notes and the odd bit of caramel and earth. Decent brew, but why is this their smash hit?

Tried on 06 Nov 2003 at 15:45