McNeills Big Nose Blonde Ale

Brewed by McNeills Brewery
Style: Golden Ale/Blond Ale
Brattleboro, Vermont USA

On Tap: Pours a bright clear golden with a puffy white head. Aroma is malty sweet and nicely accented with a good amount of hops. Body is grainy and full of grapefruit flavor with a very nice malt/hop balance. Finishes dry and crisp. A very nice blond ale.

Gracious conifer and citrus hops predominate in a very light malt body...A dab of honey and a filet of caramel, topped with a sparse orange zest culminate in a dry feel...A pleasant quaffer for hopheads, otherwise not very eloquent...

Growler from the brewery. Deep golden blonde beer. Thin white head. Aroma is lightly malty with a nice balance of floral/noble hops. Lightly honeyish flavour with a fresh orange/grapefruit and noble hoppiness. Nice clean beer with a good balance of citrus and pale malt. I normally don’t like citrus and noble hops together, but this works quite well.

Perhaps the finest blonde ale I’ve yet quaffed, although it is more like a bier de garde or saison due to its amazing complexity and palate heft. Pours turbid dark straw with 2-finger off-white head. Aroma of pale grainy malt, some hops, some fruit, some spicy floral funk. Tastes as it smells, with the grainy malt, floral spices, hops, and honey.

01:Not distinctive enough to qualify as 'great' this is nonetheless a fine light ale, with a light flowery nose (where did 'Big Nose' come in? Bud has a 'bigger' nose), sweet/sour citrus/honey tang, and a slightly bitter but clean finish. Another winner from this fine brewer.

03: Ah, what 2 years will do your knowledge; even though I'm rating this lower, I probably liked it more...I just overrated a lot of stuff when I first got on. Anyways, this is a dull golden, small-to-medium-headed specimen with a big nose indeed, if you let it warm up properly. Very "tropical" fruity aroma, full of apricots, mangos, limes, malt but little hops. Delicate and delicious. The flavor is less distinctive, caramel and buttery, a bit on the bland side, with light hop bitterness at the end. Smooth, medium body. Certainly a fine blonde, but no great shakes for McNeills.

Pungent grapefruit hop flavour. Hazy golden blonde with fair cover of large-bubbled, white head lasts nicely. Grapefruit, lemon, pine, herbal notes, fairly sour. Assertively bitter. Medium-light body is quite chalky and aggressively carbonated - very strong on the tongue. Not my cup of tea really. Bottle.

Bomber bottle and served in a standard pint glass: Hazy golden hue topped but a fizzy but lasting head and okay lacing. The aroma has notes of biscuity and grainy malts, floral and grassy hops, and a hint of pear. The taste is a straight forward sharp acidic fruity snap balanced by mild and constant undertone of pale malt. Herbal and flowery throughout with a light bitterness and note of pepper on the finish. The mouth feel is crisp and refreshing with a short metallic finish. Not to shabby, a quaffable brew and good for a hot summer day (which sadly it was not).

On draft at the brewery. A head and lace on peachy colour. Aroma that was both hoppy and malty. Medium mouthfeel of grapefruit taste, a good bitterness.