McNeills Summer IPA

Brewed by McNeills Brewery
Style: India Pale Ale (IPA)
Brattleboro, Vermont USA

22 oz bottle. Poured a dark and cloudy amber color with an averaged sized off white head. Aromas of citrus and pine. Tastes of light pine, light grapefruit with some sweet malts. Lightly bitter with a lightly sweet balance. I would have preferred a little more of a bitter bite. Thinner body.

Sampled from a bottle at the monthly meeting of the Champaign-Urbana Beer Club. I’m a big fan of their Imperial and Oatmeal stouts, and this was my first McNeils beer other than either of those. This was a curious IPA. Strong notes of butterscotch schnaps on both the nose and the palate blended with the citrus and pine. An odd mix of flavors, which I could see some not taking a liking to. Its a decent IPA, the butterscotch making it somewhat of a novelty to mix in with other more standard IPAs.

This was a nice IPA. Cloudy amber body capped off by a short-lived white head. The aroma was hoppy, citrus, some pine notes, very pungent. Gentle carbonation, smooth moithfeel, potent in the mouth. Flavor was strong hoppy citrus.

On tap at Mcneills. Orange in color with a thin white head. Hoppy aroma. Very fresh hops. Hoppy and malty flavor. Light malt. Very hoppy tasting. Fresh hops. Very nice. Hoppy finish. Decent beer.

Tap at McNeill’s. Orange, thin white head. Fresh hop aroma. Thin malt. Lots of fresh hop flavor and decent bitterness. Hoppy finish.

Purchased the bottle at the brewery
Iced tea amber, with a salt & pepper head that died off into a frail ring. Powerful hop aroma, at first it was so herbal it almost had a metallic twang to it, like a freshly grinded piece of steel. It mellowed out to a more fruity, citrus pungency. A little ashy, the malt is subtle and the bitterness has some punch and coated the tongue nicely. The aftertaste is quite hoppy and felt very "green", like chewing on a hop bud. Like most of his brews, the hops tend to iron out any shortcomings. It was good, but for hopheads only.

Smooth IPA with a copper color. Nice sandy/floral aroma and taste to this one. A mellow IPA with class -- and not bombed with hops or abv. Nicely done, like everything else at this place.

A hazy orange beer with a disappearing white head. The aroma is quite hoppy as well as grassy, while the flavor is primarily sweet and dry, from the hops, but without that much hop flavors.