McNeills Professor Brewheads Brown Ale

Brewed by McNeills Brewery
Style: Brown Ale
Brattleboro, Vermont USA

(draft) Clear dark brwn body with beige head. Aroma is medium sweet, caramel, some chocolate, light grapefruit. Taste is medium sweet, orange, caramel, some chocolate, earthy. Watery light-medium body, very drinkable. Quite an enjoyable session beer.

Label marked best before last day of November. Poured a darker and cloudy brown color with a smaller sized off white head. Aromas of nuts and caramel with lihgt chocolate. Taste of nuts and roasted malts with light hops in the background. Somewhat of a watery body.

on tap-pours a retaining light brown head and dark amber color. Aroma is sweet light malt. Taste is sweet light/medium malt, some bitter earthy hops. Close to a mild.

Pours a light brown with a thin off-white head. Aroma is hard to detect, very lightly roasted sugars and caramel. Body is nutty with some doughiness and a semi-roasted profile. Finishes very dry and dark chocolate bitter.

The Lure:
Grapey fruitiness and charred caramel reach the surface of these odd perfumes. Smells slightly foreboding.

The Festivities:
Burnt bark efficiently moves into hop bitterness, but is halted by a metallic guardrail. Pickle oil frightens the palate at its passage, as does the onset of cardboard-y dryness. At least the quaffable body and sweet fruitiness are still apparent.

Transcendence:
One of my professors once scared the hell out of me when he walked into class wearing socks in his sandals and a shrunken, stained T-shirt.

22oz bottle from Charles Street Liquors, Boston. Slightly murky mid brown colour. Not that dark. Straight from the fridge didn’t give up too much in the aroma. Opened up as it warmed a little. Mainly caramel with some nutty notes. Also nutty on the palate, with hints of smoky malt and some sweet fruit. Also a touch of chocolate and just a touch of licorice. Dabs of hops to provide some balance. Medium palate with a quite firm mouthfeel.. Not too sweet. This is not my favourite style but I thought this was rather good.

The THIRD distinct ’brown ale’ from this brewer I’ve had; McNeills is neverending. This one’s up to par, just about. Main problem is a slight thinness, both to the head and body; could also be sweeter (it’s a brown, after all). But malty and nutty as you’d want; improves a lot if slightly warm.

Tobacco, balsamic acidity, dark pit fruit. Acidity dominant. Hazy brown body with shy, off-white head. Cardboard flavours are apparent with some roasted malts, some sour acidity. Mild carbonation. Somewhat still and thin. Bottle sampled with MartinT and Olivier (Winooski Beverage Warehouse - Oct. 2004).