McNeills Big Nose Blonde Ale

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

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.

Always a beautiful beer in the McNeill style, hoppy, aromatic and big bodied

Is this McNeills mainstream beer (or is it the Firehouse). Very good light beer.

Not much in the way of aroma. Nice, light maltiness with a bitterness to compliment, probably cascade or centennial. This is a good beer for the hot Atlanta days.

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.

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.

Thanks to BeanDip for bringing this one home from her vacation to share with me!

Pours a fatty blond body with edges of orange and a bountiful ivory head. The nose and flavor are slightly doughy yeasty. Very aromatic and exceptionally floral! Loads of grapefruit and guava… big suggestions of other milled grains and slightly musty. The mouth-feel was rather chewy and left the lips somewhat sticky.

I’m surprised that may of the rather didn’t enjoy this brew, I thought it reasonably tasty!

"big nose" is in reference to the lion on the label who, like the lion in the wizard of oz, got bopped for being very presumptuous. at first blush this was like a cut-rate pils to MY big nose, but then on inspiration from bacchus i opened a german krombacher pils to sample beside it. voila, the mcneill’s instantly seemed much improved. by contrast it was much more fruity and floral (mysteriously perfumy) ; the plain-jane krom smelled merely of match sticks. the big nose (the ale, not mine) is sure enough blonde, with a head that, when viewed from above makes a deep moonscape of swirls, ridges and craters. flavor is dinner rolls dabbed with fragrant hop butter; sweet start, gentle carbonation, light bodied, morphing to dryish finish and moderate bitterness. as ratebeerian ’steak’ says, it didn’t knock my socks off. on the contrary, my socks got tighter. good session ale, anyway.