McNeill's Extra Special Bitter Ale
McNeill’s ESB is a fully hopped version of the style. Dry, with a deep nose of grapefruit and quite bitter. It’s red, from the blend of American and British malts, and the FIVE TIME National Champion ESB at the USBTC.
3.5
151 reviews
Brattleboro, United States
Community reviews
From a bottle poured a brown color with a fair amount of head. Bitter malty flavor with a lingering aftertaste.
Bomber. Pours dark amber with a big, dense off-white head and gobs of sentiment at the bottom of the bottle. Aroma is mildly bready, some citrus hops. Flavor is surprisingly bitter with lots of caramel, bready malt, and some fruit that emerges as it warms. Wish I would have waited til it warmed more, because it really came on in the end. A solid bitter.
Location: 22 oz bottle from Buy Rite, 8/5/11
Aroma: The nose has some grassy and floral hops, and some caramel too
Appearance: It pours a mostly clear dark orange-brown color with a creamy beige head
Flavor: Tastes fairly bitter, lightly sweet, similar to the nose, plus some sour notes as well
Palate: The body is medium, with a somewhat sticky mouthfeel, and a tingly/lively carbonation
Overall Impression:
Overall, I wanted to like this one more then I actually did. The taste just had something off about it, like an unintended sourness. I don’t know if it was a bad bottle, or just not a great beer, but it wound up disappointing me just a little.
On tap at Brewery. Murky golden body with top head. Nose is malts and some caramel. Taste is hops and bitter, really bitter. Quite enjoyable. Especially at the quaint and rowdy brewpub.
Nice strong off-white head of fine bubbles. Reduces slowly and leaves a thick sheet of lacing. Weak aroma with some light malts and some mild cheese. Color is a hazy medium brown. Toasted grains, some caramel malts, a bit of dry chalkyness and some tea leaves. Mild bitterness but backed with a bit of slick malts. Kind of a slight sourness to this brew also. Finishes rather bitter with some lingering dry malts. This is a bit of a confusing brew but a decent one.
22 oz bottle. Pours Copper amber in color with a pure white fluffy head. The aroma is tangy, and grassy hops. There is a fruity malt note, adding just enough balance to the beer. Very dry finish.
As with most bitters, lack of an aroma lowers the score but this is one fine bitter. The aroma is bread and yeast and a bit of malt. The flavor is malty sweet up front and then just bitingly bitter. It is extremely dry and refreshing.
Orange with a white head. Citrus and lemon in the aroma with light sweetness. Flavor is very citrus and earthy with a nice biscuit malt profile. More bitter than I expected. Pretty solid and would be nice on a warm summer night.
Amber hazy body with a huge yellow off white head. Malty and hoppy aroma. Hints of caramel malt, pine and floral notes with a duller bitter pb note (this fades as I continue through the ale). Bitter hop character with a thin spruce and herbal hop character. Nice clean hoppy bitter ale, and one of the better core beers i’ve had from Mcneils.
Sampled at Nashville Beer Summit 1.22.11 - Pours a light copper brown. Lighter weight beer for such strong hoppy good bitterness. Nice long finish. The mid palate is lacking a touch. But part of that is the other crazy huge beers I’ve been sampling today. Darn good ESB. One of the best.
22oz - Malty nose, frothy head, solid palate, some hoppy bitterness. Delivered as advertised, nicely so.
Gold pour with white head and lace. Light grapefruit aroma. Sweet caramel malt with medium/light citrus bitter. Medium bodied and fizzy. Good beer.
22 oz bottle shared at Derek’s Tasting. Pours a hazy amber, murky really, with a big frothy offwhite head that stays big. Aromas are decent florals, touches of lemon, bitter florals, with touch of pine, bread and biscuits. Initial is medium bready, biscuits, toffee, florals, pine, touch of soap and lemon rind peek in. Finish is lightly dry, bitter, light sweetness. A nice lighter balanced ESB without a big hop presence overall. Not bad, perhaps a bit older with a touch of oxidation, apparent fade.
Bottle. Pours orange with a light beigeish head. Citric hoppy aroma with some light crackery malts. Crisp hoppy flavor with floral and citric notes on a pale malty base. Hoppy for its style but still good.
Bottle shared by Sean, thanks! Poured a clear hazy amber with a brown hue and a gray head that dissipated to the edges. Aroma had a nice citrus presence with some hay, sweet grain and grass as well. Flavor started citrus and grass which mellowed into a malt finish consisting of grain and bread.
Pour is deep cloudy amber with nice head and strong sticky lacing. Flavor is bitter with strong hops and sticky and mildly sweet maltiness in the finish. This beer starts bitter and has a nice citrus finish. Overall a bit sticky and the flavor stays with you but not in a way that is obtrusive. This is a really nice beer.
Amber. Fast, off-white head. Aroma: Cascade Hops with malt bready backing. Flavor: English Hops, Citris. Dry finish. One of the best Bitters I have had. This, with Rogue Brutal Bitter shows that America can match the Motherland on ESB’s (and IPA’s).
Bottle thanks to mymrnngjckt on BA. Dirty light brown pour, a little carbonation and a slightly sweet floral aroma. Flavor is medicinal Ricola cough drops, bitter cereal malts and finished very dry and bitter on the aftertaste. Interesting beer, but not something I’d go searching for.
Coppery color with a foamy whitish tan head. A nice balanced flavor with a nice bitter hoppy finish. Citrus and grassiness in the taste as well. A bit hoppier than some ESBs, but nice.
brings a great feeling of balance of malty, the palate is thinner than desirable but the malts are rich and sweet and the hops bring a nice piny sharpness to it.
The aroma is a good balance of grassy hops and sweet malt but it also has a bit of grain husks and leaves. The appearance is milky amber with a medium foamy head that fades a little too quick. The taste is like the aroma with a bitter finish. The palate is thin but smooth. Overall not a bad beer but too bitter for the style.
22oz bottle. Poured a deeper amberish color with a averaged sized off white head. Cloudy. Aromas of floral hops, some citrus, caramel, and bready. Tastes of the same breadiness, toasted caramel, and lighter citrus.
Bomber. Hazy, darkish copper with a lasting disc of foam. Nose of caramel, banana, apple, and hints of orange and wood. Flavor is caramel, banana, bubble gum and an overarching bitter woodiness. Long bittersweet finish of peppery earth and wood has touches of citrus bubble gum. Light-medium body is smoothly carbonated and astringently dry.
22 oz. bottle shared by Tmoney99. Pours a hazy orange brown color with a thin off white film. The aroma has moderately sweet caramel/toffee, ripe fruits and floral hops. The flavor opens with moderate sweetness favoring caramel malt and ripe fruits, but becomes increasingly biscuity and toasted midway through the finish. Still some fruitiness perhaps grapefruit, bitterness at the back and finishes dry. Medium bodied; just ok.
Big ol Bomber bottle! Crisp, almost red pour with a nice head. Bitter is right! Very tasty. Citrus, barley a little wheat and a nice balance.. Got to get more of this!
Enjoy
Aroma is some prickly pale malts, with a hint of caramel. A mild, woody hop. Touch of yeast.
The appearance is medium orange with a cloudy half-finger of head.
The flavor is sweet malts, just short of a brown ale, but with a flowery hop that finishes like pine oil. Sweet and then just a tad astringent, a bit metallic.
Feels smooth and oily. Decent body. A tad prickly. Really easy drinkin’. More of an English ESB than anything. Pleasant and not too challenging.
Pours a slightly hazy, almost copper body with a lacing, off-white head. Aromas of caramel, malt, some hops. Flavors of caramel, earthy/grass hops, and toasty nuttiness, almost cocoa. Slightly dry finish. Bitter. Nice, medium-bodied brew.
5/18/2010: McNeill’s Extra Special Bitter Ale... Aroma: Floral hops; hint of cooked caramel and apple. Appearance: Muddy, dull amber color; moderate carbonation; minimal flat beige head. Flavor: Perfume and sugary grapefruit hop flavor and bitterness accompanied by a toffee maltiness. Palate: Medium-bodied; average mouthfeel. Overall: Decent overall; a bit heavy hopped and thick for an ESB; more like an IPA...
1 pint 6 fl. oz. bottle shared by Tmoney99. Thanks Tom! Rating #108 for this beer.
Bottle. Poured hazy brown color with an average frothy off-white head that mostly lasted with good lacing. Moderate toasted malt and bitter aroma. Medium body with a sticky texture and soft carbonation. Medium bittersweet flavor with a medium bittersweet finish of moderate duration. Solid drinkable beer.
Dark brown-amber, nice beige cover. Aroma is caramel, toffee, nice citrusy, spicy aroma. Taste is more candies, toffee, herbal bitter finish.