Big Man Ale
Cambridge Brewing Company in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States 🇺🇸
IPA - West Coast Winter Out of Production|
Score
7.29
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Our Winter seasonal beer is here! Originally brewed in September of 1992 at the request of three bartenders/managers (who have since gone on to great fame and glory) Big Man Ale has been a favorite seasonal brew at Cambridge Brewing Company ever since. Legend has it that the grist weight of Big Man Ale was their combined total weight –
770 pounds of malt!
Deep copper-colored and unfiltered (as are all of CBC’s beers), it boasts a full body complemented by strong, robust flavors. Its rich notes of malt and caramel are offset by very aggressive hopping—it is kettle-hopped with Columbus, Cascade and Centennial hops and further dry-hopped with even more Cascades and Amarillo. These hop varieties lend a fruity, citrusy character to this big malty beer, vaguely in the style of a strong stock ale or I.P.A. We just call it the Big Man.
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Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7.5 | Flavor - 7.5 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8
Reviewed from notes.
Bottle to becher glass.
Appearance: copper/auburn color with a two finger white foamy head which dissipated nicely to leave some light lace
Aroma: green apples & red apple flesh and skin-like bittersweetness, sly floral hop and light peachy hop tones in there too; some pine; light malts
Flavor: combines the prior noted aromas to a fair bitter to bittersweet sort of quality; finishes leaning into some peachy to appley and piney character
Texture: light to medium bodied, sessionable; light smoothness with a light hop bitterness assertiveness
Overall: interesting take on an IPA but I liked it and would return to this if I could.
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8.5
Pours from a bottle a dark cloudy copper with a thick off-white head. Aroma is apples, pine resin. Flavor is a well-balanced sweetness, floral, and bitterness. A good brew for the winter.
Dogbrick (24322) reviewed Big Man Ale from Cambridge Brewing Company 11 years ago
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 8
Sample at the Ale Wine & Spirits beer tasting on 04/03/2014: Hazy copper color with a medium off-white head that recedes gradually. Small patches of lacing on the glass. Aroma of floral hops, citrus and malt. Medium-bodied with flavors of herbal hops, grapefruit and roast malt. The finish is moderately bitter with a lingering citrus and hops aftertaste. Above average overall.
bhensonb (22726) reviewed Big Man Ale from Cambridge Brewing Company 11 years ago
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 6 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8
Bomber. Pours dark copper with a creamy beige head. Aroma of citrus and roasty malt. Med body. Lots of hop. Mostly citrus, but there’s fruit and resin. The backbone is a lot roastier than most IPAs. So it’s more strong ale than IPA. Fairly tasty.
CLW (17000) reviewed Big Man Ale from Cambridge Brewing Company 13 years ago
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 6 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8.5
Draft at the brew pub. 5 oz taster. Hazy amber is color, thin ring of head. Aromas of grapefruit and lots of floral notes. Taste is citrus infused. Peach, grapefruit along with pine and slightly resinous notes. Bitterness lingers for a long duration. Hops are Earthy and green. This is flavorful and balanced well with the right level of malt. Damn tasty!
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8
On tap at the source. Pours a slightly hazy golden to amber color with a decent off white head that displays moderate retention and minimal lace. Smells of citrus, lots of grapefruit and juicy floral hops. Bready toasty malt provides enough of a backbone to keep this in check. Taste is slightly harsh in bitterness with a bunch of pine and citrus. Malts sweep in bready caramel and toasty to balance this out a little. Medium body and carbonation level with a slick resinous mouthfeel. I enjoyed this one its a nice flavorful IPA.
deyholla (22839) reviewed Big Man Ale from Cambridge Brewing Company 15 years ago
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 7.5
On tap at the brewpub. Poured a clear golden amber with a gray head that dissipated slowly to the edges and laced slightly. Aroma had a combination of citrus and pine on the nose with a bit of backing resin and a caramel backbone. Flavor began with cereal and caramel with a growing citrus note that had a bit of pine bitterness in the finish.
yespr (55573) reviewed Big Man Ale from Cambridge Brewing Company 15 years ago
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 7.5
From tap at the brewpub. Pours cloudy orange with a small white head. Aroma is fruity, hoppy and slight toasted malty. Solid grapefruity to pinewood hoppy. Mild peachy too. Lingering thick malty and grapefruity hoppy finish. Nice.
Lubiere (24605) reviewed Big Man Ale from Cambridge Brewing Company 16 years ago
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 7
S reddish amber ale with a thin off white head. In aroma, nice malt with nice fragrant herbal hops, a bit wild. In mouth, a good nutty malt balalncing well with light hops, good bitterness, another quaffer. On tap at brewpub, Dec. 28 2009.
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8.5
Growler from CBC. Pours light mahogany into a shaker. Fluffy tan head with good retention slowly recedes leaving spider lacing. Caramel and resin aromas. Well balanced and crisp upfront with a lasting resin finish. I’d call it an American Strong ale similar to an Arrogant Bastard. Improves tremendously as it warms...