Muddy dull amber. Very low carbo visible. The aroma has floral hops with some woody notes and a yeast backdrop. Yeasty, heavy taste...thick, simple malts and oxidized hops. OK, it was best before an hour ago. Must’ve gone down the gurgler in those sixty minutes. Very light florals and esters. Pretty run of the mill stale Englishish ale.

Classic golden ale with a thin white head. Intense nutmeg and cloves in aroma. Light ale with light hops, with spices being less pronounced than expected. Medium bodied. Refreshing. Quaffable spices beer. Enjoyed at YEHa!05 Christmas Party on Dec. 17th, 2005.

2005 bomber shared with Muzzlehatch on 11/4/05. Summery orange colors mix with chestnut browns in a hazy, well-carbonated body. Half a finger of off-white head is well-retained and provides for ample lacing. Smells of light buttercream, nuts, lightly toasted grains. First flavor notes are of a dry, nutty and floral bitterness, quickly moving to a lightly sweet toffee with buttercream and a strong hops bite. A bit astringent/dry sourness, but a moderately expansive carbonation and unfiltered mouthfeel provide a solid vessel for flavor expression here. Light licorice and nuttiness on the finish, with light earthy/dry yeast notes that are, again, sour. Body is medium for the style, with no alcohol apparency and significantly less fruitiness than I was expecting.

On draught at the brewery, 8/5/2005 with Eyedrinkale. Pours a soft, peach-toned body, light golden-hay and just a shade of copper. Film of white head, with moderate retention. Glassy/clear appearance. Aroma of soft, fruity yeast and hops, no bitterness, maybe some caramel and just straight up pale malt sugars. A bit of dry yeast. Flavor begins with lots of fruit, pineapple, orange, apricot, peach and more pale malt. Low carbonation, fuzzy feel to th texture, with some wateriness on the end. Unlike the Yukon gold, this one did have some astringency problems, getting papery on the end, and quite dull/bland. Not sure what caused this, but it really seemed to kill the beer. Just a regular old APA, really. Medium body.

On draught at the brewery, with Eyedrinkale on 8/5/2005. Hmm seems like everyone else hates this stuff, but then, I’m not surrpised to have found it quite enjoyable on draught. McNeills strongpoint isnt exactly in bottling. Pours a lightly hazy, soft hay and golden yellow with a well-retained, small white head. Aroma of light grassiness, mint, herbs, more hay and dry toasty, pale grains. Some yeastiness adds a bit of fruitiness, light peaches and apricots. Flavor has a note of pale malt up front, moderately sweet, light creamy/sugariness, with a rough hops edge, grassy and fresh, but not very bitter. Good body, with an unfiltered, substantial texture, grainy and has a crisp kick on the finish. Moderate carbonation. Didnt find any diacetyl or any other bad notes in my sample. Wasnt too dry, flat, papery, etc... Nice and refreshing, quite drinkable.

Reddish amber, good foaming head. Strong herbal hop aroma, and a definite British influence with a fairly sweet malt profile and well developed light-fruit esters. Hop flavors are low, but a strong finishing bitterness sets this apart. Medium bodied.

A hazy orange beer with a disappearing white head. The aroma is quite hoppy as well as grassy, while the flavor is primarily sweet and dry, from the hops, but without that much hop flavors.

2005 bottle from City Market. Consumed on 4/26/2005. Pours a medium brown, copper-amber, bottle conditioned with a moderate amount of dark beige head, fair retention and lacing. Smells of earthy, musty yeast, dry toffee and heavily toasted malts. Bitter bakers chocolate and more dirty soil notes. Flavor begins with a dry, dirty, almost astringent sort of over-kilned maltiness, not sweet at all, almost cardboardy in texture. Yeast is quite present, low bittering hops and some bits of dark chocolate. As it warms and breathes, the zesty carbonation dies down, allowing a bit more continuous malt flavor to develop, and it sweetens, to some extent, with some toffee and chocolate. But I never can shake that oily, over-roasted malt astringency and the dirty flavored yeast is not terribly pleasant either. A bit watery of a body, highly attenuated flavor but, of course, a good mouthfeel as almost all McNeills beers have. Retronasal has more sweet milk chocolate than I ever found in the body, which is strange.