Big Rock McNallys Extra

Brewed by Big Rock Brewery
Style: Irish Ale
Calgary, Canada

Serve in English pint

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Not bad, not amazing. Lots of caramel flavour, almost overburdening. Bitter, but surprisingly quite drinkable.

Always wanted to try this and when I did I was diappointed at how linear and filtered this was as if all the character had been sucked cleanout of it. Didn’t even get much of that supposed butter malt quality. Needs more hops or anything to make it more distinctive.

Pours a clear amber with a frothy off white head that dissipates quickly. Smells of sweet caramel on the nose. Taste is sweet and bready at first then finishes with a smooth boozy taste with some hop bitterness. If the hopps were cranked up on this it would be so much better.

Bottle, brought back from Canada by Jim - thanks! Pours clear reddish amber with a small white head and effectively no lacing. Aroma is light caramel and a floral note. Flavor is caramel, nuts, a bit of metal, and a light bitter finish. Boring.

Pours a clear amber. Smells like grains and apple juice. Slight sweet apple flavours up front. Watery, bitter finish. Not that great.

Bottle, Big Rock mix pack from Beer Store. Dark chestnut brown, very little head. Aroma is decent - lots of nutty malt and lots of alcohol. Taste - not bad at all. Lots of malt over a surprisingly medium to thin body giving way to restrained but present alcohol and a nice lingering bitterness. Even longer is a slow alcohol burn. Quite well balanced. Will not knock your socks off in terms of flavour, but this is a well constructed strong ale (Irish ale category seems..odd). Nice work Big Rock, glad I picked up this mix pack for the improved IPA and this.

Purchased at The Beer Store in a Big Rock Brewmaster’s Selection 12-pack (with the Traditional Ale, IPA and Grasshopper - 3 bottles of each). Pours a dark amber colour with an off-white head, average retention and not much lace. Grainy malt aromas with nice sweet butter, nuts, toffee which all makes me think of beer nuts. Medium-bodied and kind of silky, but a bit dry in the finish. A little warming from the alcohol, with flavours of roasted malts, butterscotch, caramel and the hop showing in the aftertaste, reminding me of apples. The first sips did nothing for me, but this one does get better and better as it breathes (BTW, it was room temperature to begin with, so that has not changed since the beginning). Probably Big Rock’s best brew.

Draft @ Korea Location: Poured a amber with off white head. Aroma is corny and grain. Taste is rusty nails along with caramel malt.

Finally got around to rating this one. Single bottle courtesy my uncle on 12/25/2011. Colour: Nice dark brown and light red mix...with ever so slight off-white head that disappeared quickly. Nose: Roasted hazelnut, heated toffee, dried figs. Quite delightful. Taste: Medium sweet, medium bitter, light sour. The caramelling is a bit high but there is some delicious toasted hops that provide a consistent bitterness from start to finish. A touch of celery too. Great stuff.

341 ml bottle in a mixed pack from TBS, served at cellar temperature in a tulip glass.

App.: Reddish-amber with a white rim. Aroma: Annoyingly dusty...hard to figure this out, perfumed, fruity, the dusty note is almost peppery, some nice caramel and toffee malts, toasted grains, a touch buttery, a bit of dark dried fruit, toast crust, has some good qualities. Palate: Medium body, very relaxed effervescence. Flav.: Earthier caramel/toffee, a bit green and herbal, much less fruity and dusty than the nose, still a little peppery zing, toasted grains, bread crust, a touch of butterscotch; dry with unexpected, persistent bitterness and a sweet malt, slightly fruity finish.

Bitterness was a pleasant surprise. The rest of the beer is better than other offerings by BR...the bar isn’t exactly high.