Clarkvv (16760) reviewed Extra Special Bitter Ale from McNeill's Brewery 21 years ago
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 7
2004 bottle. Color: Bottle conditionied. Light reddish-brown. Light golds and yellows mixed in with a creamy, off-white mocha colored head. Aroma of extra-fruity hops, tons of ripe red and yellow fruits; very fragrant. Flavor: Begins quite dry and bitter, with some light fruit making itself known (strawberries, tart cherries). The hops seem very strong and bitter however, though it’s an ESB, I prefer a more traditional, more malty/earthy rendition. The flavor was certainly there, just too in your face bitter for my likes. Palate showed a creamy, lightly bubbly, medium bodied ale. Dry on the finish, peppery almost with hints of grapefruit.
Clarkvv (16760) reviewed Exterminator Doppelbock from McNeill's Brewery 21 years ago
Appearance - 10 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 4 | Texture - 4 | Overall - 4
2004 bottle compliments of Bucknaked yet again (owe him alot of good Bells beers). Anyways, this pours so well. Magenta red with some dark but somehow bright browns. Good beige head. Bottle conditioned, solid looking and smelling. Aroma of dark ripe plums, port, raisins, apples, vinegar, dark chocolate. Wow you read about this one, and wonder, how can a beer be this weird, then you try it and it’s like, woh, this is weird. WAY TOO acidic, dark red wine grapes, tons of tannins, loads of red fruit and lots of yeast. What is going on here. Doppelbock? barely. Crazy beer? Yes (man my ratings are gettting lame tonight).
Clarkvv (16760) reviewed Reagins Stout from McNeill's Brewery 21 years ago
Appearance - 10 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 10 | Overall - 8
2004 bottle compliments of Bucknaked. Great pour. Opaque black with some dark cherry-mahogany brown tinges. Great mocha beige brown head. Aroma is amazing for a dry stout.This dosent have the nitro in it so you can actually smell and taste this beer (ps. I dont like nitrogen in beers). Anyways, wow is this stuff good. Roasty, dry and malty. Black malt, lots of great chewy malt and all kinds of fun dark fruits and flavors (anise, dark coffee, some thick bacon fat). Can McNeills make a more balanced better mouthfeeling beer?? I dont know how they control the mouthfeel this well on their beers, but it’s great. Awesome beer, one of my favorites from them. Influenced heavily by the imperial, though take out the extreme hopping and some of the extra gravity.
Clarkvv (16760) reviewed Ruby Extra Amber Ale from McNeill's Brewery 21 years ago
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 6 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 6.5
2004 bottle compliments of bucknaked. Good deep amber orange red pour. Quite colorful but has very little white head. Aroma has tons of chewy caramel, lots of citric hops (grapefruit, oranges) Very fresh and juicy. Flavor has lots of bitter hops right away, good citric enjoyment. But then it gets nice and caramelly. Certainly it has established itself as a good American IPA (borderline double). The flavor is great and bursting with freshness, but the showcase, yet again, the smooth, perfect natural carbonation, and the wonderful balance (a bit on the sweet side this time, though). Great beer. Rerate. I can't say anything different about the wonderful palate, but the flavor really bothers me. It is dry, then sweet, then dry and all the time not very strong. The body is held together very loosley and I keep expecting a climax of flavor but it never really comes, the flavor just sort of hangs in the background and I just finish the beer wondering, "hmm, where did all that beer go?"
Clarkvv (16760) reviewed Summer Bitter from McNeill's Brewery 21 years ago
Appearance - 10 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 10 | Overall - 8.5
2004 bottle sample June 2004, compliments of Bucknaked. Pours really well. Good foamy head, white and lacing. Dark brown to dark amber orange straw. Big bubbles. Bottle conditioned. Aroma of light light fruit (nectarines, peaches). Some caramel and toffee, but light and not overly sweet. Hops are juicy, bursting with flavor, but not tremendously bitter, which is great. Balance is yet again wonderful, not too sweet, not too bitter. So drinkable, medium light body, some light fruit hints on the finish. Carbonation on this must be all natural from the bottle conditioning, it’s perfect. Fruity and lightly bitter, balanced. This is about as good as it gets for a summer session ale. This should be classified as a bitter, not an amber, I would think.
On cask at the brewery, 8/5/2005. Wonderful! I’m glad it holds up to my memory. Just perfect influence from the yeast, moderately dry fruitiness, nectarines and apricots, creating almost a cedar/beechwood sort of effect, with flavorful English hops, grassy, sweaty, hay-like at times and an engaging, lovely mouthfeel. Pours bright and seemed in top condition. Good to see that McNeill’s takes care of their cask properly. I think they pulled it through a sparkler though.
Clarkvv (16760) reviewed Old Ringworm from McNeill's Brewery 21 years ago
Appearance - 10 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 7.5
03 or 04 bottle (not sure) compliments of bucknaked (probably 04 bottle). Pours well enough, great dark ruddy brownish red, quite bright and foamy, with plenty of carbonation. Obviously bottle conditioned. Aroma of sweet, challenging yeast, funky and peppery, lots of vanilla, oak, wood, earthiness, some dry caramel. Low hops profile. Flavor is yeasty and malty, almost to the point of a sweet belgian dubbel, but then it quickly dries out and picks up much yeast complexity. Hops are quite subtle, giving bitterness, but not overly so. A decent shot of maltiness is chewy and lingers. I like the yeast part, but the fruit is not estery and as detectable as I would like. Want some more figs, dates, plums and what not. Still a great beer and well made. Medium-full body.
Sloefmans (15519) reviewed Imperial Stout from McNeill's Brewery 21 years ago
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 9 | Texture - 10 | Overall - 9
Slim rim of brown-yellow bubbles on a jet-black, ink-or tarlike beer. Chocolate, blackcurrants and other dark fruit in the nose - and then the truly imperial hops kick in. Cold coffee and moccha, dark bitter true chocolate, hops in jute bales. Under all this great bitterness, there is a massive dose of all sorts of sugar; malt-, lactic-, and cubes, but nowhere cloying. Long tarry aftertaste, partly tobacco ash, but mainly like incredibly concentrated Lapsang Souchong tea. Mouth impression is full chewy - one wants to use one’s teeth involuntary. With every sip, again a firecracker of heavenly hops bursts open, scattering its sparks over mountains of excellent - Belgian? - chocolate. There’s all sorts of dark fruit growing in those - but I’m starting to sound like a pale imitation of Martin T., the Muse of beer, who brought me this incredible concoction.
Clarkvv (16760) reviewed Dead Horse IPA from McNeill's Brewery 22 years ago
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 6 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 7.5
2004 Draught @ Sunset Grill. Pours a dark brownish-mahogany with some lighter orange and golds. Very dark though for an IPA. Decent head, orange/reddish speckled white. Aroma of light toasted malt? That's certainly odd. Flavor is equally malt dominated. Sweet and malty, with a lightly chewy flavor. The hops are deep and fruity, little bitterness of which to speak. Toasty/roasty malt is detectable and a dark fruity finish (cherries, plums, blueberries, black raspberries) that is lightly watery. Medium body, low carbonation. Very interesting and certainly not bad. Chewy English IPA.
Dogbrick (24322) reviewed Imperial Stout from McNeill's Brewery 22 years ago
Appearance - 10 | Aroma - 9 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 10 | Overall - 9
Acquired via trade. Pours like a claggy can of motor oil with a thin beige head. Rather thin lacing that trails down the entire glass. The aroma is a bold mix of coffee, roasted malt, caramel, and chocolate. Very rich bodied and smoothly balanced with flavors of espresso, malt, chocolate and a touch of hops. Alcohol is difficult to detect but it is definitely there. The finish is on the dry side with bitter coffee and hops. Overall this is a very good Imperial Stout and I would like to find out what else this brewery has to offer someday.
Clarkvv (16760) reviewed Imperial Stout from McNeill's Brewery 22 years ago
Appearance - 10 | Aroma - 9 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 9
2003 bottle, fresh
Motor Oil pour, jet black, unfiltered, thick, dark tan roasty smelling head. Tons of roast, lots of coffee. Very good aroma. Opens up with a thick, oily very dry roasted barley flavor, some earthy/anise flavor and quite syrupy. Moderate amount of coffee, and a nice bitter hops kick. Quite complex with plenty of good malt sweetness. I was looking for the thinness that people had mentioned, didnt see it at all. Very good mouthfeel and stood up well as it warmed. Alcohol very well masked. More like a souped up version of a straight up Stout, but I thought it was a good take nonetheless. Thanks for the bottle OldGrowth.
Rerate Same vintage with Muzzlehatch. Seems to be aging perfectly. The resinous hops havent even mellowed that much, while the oily roast and chocolate show no signs of decline. Really decadent, but I love it. I’m a study in contradictions, I by all accounts should not like this beer.
Rerate yet again, same vintage Wow, this year is just sublime and still aging perfectly. No oxidation, wonderfully dry, but not too bitter (still nice and bitter though). Light chocolate, some light fruitiness, but not overly vinous. Thick, sumptuous mouthfeel too.
2005 bomber shared by SuIIy on 2/3/07
What a terrific beer, even with my palate shifting towards pale/lower abv and Belgian beers, I still couldn’t help but drool over this stuff. Elegantly attenuated, with very strong and dry, but not ashy or oily/stale roast notes and lots of dry vanilla. Dryness seems to be the key here, but it’s still got a wonderfully chewy, strong texture and tight carbonation. Light vinousness on the end adds further elegance while hints of cigar-like notes and dots of dry chocolate emerge as well. Still one of the best, IMHO.