McNeills Ruby Ale

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

Dark amber color with dusty yeast in suspension. Watermelon rind (white part), nutmeg, and cinnamon bread. Mostly dry flaovr. Starts with more watermelon rind non-sweetness, caramel and apple skin. A nicely sweet and yeasty IPA.

Very floral aroma with citrus notes. Very floral, pleasant aroma. Hazy dark copper/amber color with a small off-white head. Very floral taste leading to some big time piney hops to finish. This is not over the top and the malts complement the hops very well. Nicely balanced American IPA.

bottle...deep amber pour with medium tan head. Malty hoppy aroma, reminds me of Murphy’s Oil Soap. Very pleasant aroma, I could smell this all day. Very light pine flavor, mostly grapefruit bitterness in the start. Middle sweetens, almost sugary. Light grapefruit bitterness lingers balanced by a slight maltiness to finish. This is very good.

22oz bottle. Fizzy and lasting off-white head, dark ruby body with flaky yeasties roaming around in there. Very nice sweet hoppy aroma. I’d have to say a caramelly pine with grapefruit. Soapy tasting dry hops with some light caramel sweetness in the background. The seemingly soapy taste helps tone down the hops, plus some hidden sourness in there. Very smooth and rounded beer. Thanks to MuzzleHatch for the gift! Re-Rate 8/25/05 - Grassy hops noticable; raised flavor to 8.

A little like the King IPA from Pontiac I had recently - very malty with a huge grapefruit presence, well-blended, this beer has a long astringent, delicious, citrus finish. Another great McNeill’s provided by the incomparable MuzHat.

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?"

Bottle: Copper/amber/ruby with a nice large tan head. Smells of caramel malt, citrus, fruit, hops. Flavor is initially intense bitterness from the hops, but also with some fruit (cherries, citrus, grapefruit), with some caramel and butter. I saw this was one of McNeill’s highest rated beers, but I like their summer bitter that I tried earlier tonight better. Once again a classic example of a balanced beer.

Copper/amber with a medium, beige head and tons of little floating bunnies. Yes. Floating bunnies. Aroma is malty and hoppy with caramel and cherries. Flavor is a little malty up front with a little sourness (old bottle? I just bought it today), some caramel and butteriness, and lots and lots of hops. The hop flavor is very powerful and overwhelms most of the other stuff. Reasonably thick and lasts in the mouth for an above-average time. Very good IPA, but I won’t be buying more of this soon.