McNeills Champ Ale

Brewed by McNeills Brewery
Style: American Pale Ale
Brattleboro, Vermont USA

Hazy orangy dark straw hue, with noble hop, pale malt, grainy notes in the aroma. The palate is complex, giving unfiltered flavors of hops, malt, some slight peachy fruit. As with all beers from these guys, this one is very well done.

660ml bottle, hazy amber gold orangeish hue, with a creamy beige head, leaving laces, with a sweet toasted malt nose, with some caramel and toffee accents,floral hops, hint of citrus fruits in the aroma follows through on a medium-bodied palate with a crisp yeasty flowery hops character, with some leafy, piney notes, toasted malt, toffeish accent, with a juicy grassiness and a hint of citrus fruitiness, toch of caramel malt, leading towards a flowery hops and grassy bitterness finish.

At the Heavyweight Open House, June 2006: A decent, but unoriginal American Pale ale. Farily hoppy and quite malty. Citrus fruits abound, which makes it pretty refreshing overall, despite the sweet finish. Looks decent enough: dark orange/golden body, frothy head.

A solid drinkable pale. Enough C hops to give off a citrus smell, great big creamy long-lasting head. Well malted, good with lunch. Citrus taste and aftertaste dominated. Not too bitter

Out of a bomber. Aroma very hoppy with a tinge of malts. Pour was nice a hazed darkened gold. Flavor was good just as advertised. Hops give enough bitterness yet muted under the balance of it sweet malts. Palate was nice and solid and finish was just sweet enough to have you wanting another sip. Overall I enjoyed this.

22 oz. bottle, thanks to Eyedrinkale. Pours hazy, copper-amber color with virtually no head. Aroma is somewhat of sour, unripe fruits, a bit of bready malts along with floral notes. Flavor is fruity with the sour notes again, black tea and lemon, with a nice crisp floral hoppiness. Medium body with gentle carbonation.

(22 oz bottle: Obtained in trade with Eyedrinkale, thanks Mike!) Given my problems with getting healthy bottles of McNeill’s beers, I was less than pleased to pour this bottle and have a mildly sour aroma greet me. The dominant sour aroma struck me initially, but it’s not sour enough to scream infection. Nevertheless, I’m barely getting anything else, just some sort of light grainy maltiness. The flavor is also a bit sour, but there is enough mildly sweet pale malt, light fruitiness, and hoppy bitterness to keep the light sourness in the background. Plus, there’s a really nice mild smokiness in the finish that is keeping me entertained. Body is medium with gentle carbonation. Fairly cloudy in appearance and medium gold in color, the beer is topped by nearly an inch of off-white head that gradually settles to a wide ring, leaving plenty of patchy, delicate lacing on the glass. The sourness worried me at first, but I quickly got used to it, and whether it’s intentional or not, in an odd way, I think it gives the beer a little extra complexity to contemplate.

nice sweet aroma, lots of hops, but sweet caramel malts are equal to the challenge. a cloudy golden color with some solid floaties. flavors are pretty much in line with the nose. a very nice balance with just enough bitterness. the aftertaste is sweet and the mouthfeel is slightly creamy. a very nice enjoyable brew. thanks to firemoose15 for providing this bomber.