McNeills Ducks Breath Ale

Brewed by McNeills Brewery
Style: English Strong Ale
Brattleboro, Vermont USA

Thanks to Nate for sharing. An orangish copper color with a bit of a golden hint. 1 1/2 finger fizzy white head. The aroma has a piny hop character with a citrus zest and cotton candy sweetness. Very dry taste. The cotton candy carries through to the flavor. Still a very piny bitterness with a sort of carbonic-ish hint to it. A bit of brown sugar, but it is in the background. What feels like a decent body, but it is really too heavily carbonated to tell the actual texture of the beer. A dirty hop flavor left on the tongue.

From bottle I bought at brewery in May ’07. Lactic dusty nose, mild herbal bitter hops. Some carbonic gaseousness with light toasted grain, cooked veggies, and some funky sourness. Dark golden amber clear with rocky off-white lacing head. Medium body with heavy carbonation. Very effervescent with carbonic acidity. Starts with ozone and oxidation flavor, mild caramel and biscuit. Light funky sourness and medium bitter. Orange peels and bitter resins. OK but perhaps a bit aged.

Courtesy of Nate. Clear gold with a rich and creamy off-white head. Subtle stale hop/skunk aroma with citric, pine-sol, caramel, and lots of cleaner. Old, stale taste with some cardboard, spice, sweet, citric, apple, and piny notes. Very solvent like finish. Clean, crisp palate. The age hurt it. Tastes like a run of the mill IPA at best.

22 oz. bomber courtesy of Nate shared with Exec Board. Pours red with khaki head, fizzy and dissipating. Carbonic nose with spice, aerosol-ish, mildy sweet. Taste is caramel and bitter earthy hops with an old chocolate finish and earthy, piny bitter after. Not bad. I"m pretty sure the age on it didn’t really help things.

bottle, from trade with 46er3498. Ok aroma, bitter sweet. Steely, citrusy, paper/cardboard, little berry. Hazed brownish orange color, small, but ever present head, good lace. Bitter flavor, tart citrus and sweet malt. Not strong, but nice. Lite body, smooth mouthfeel, bitter finish. Perhaps I have abit of a bias towards McNeills as this was one of many of his products I enjoyed early on in my beer drinking adventures. A solid bitter for sure

Name: Duck’s Breath Ale
Date: 05/20/2006
Mode: Bottle
Source: Tasting, Noog II

clear yellow, whispy white head, lightly hopped sweet malt aroma, balanced malt and hop flavor, light tart lemon essence,

Aroma: 3/10; Appearance: 4/10; Flavor: 4/10; Palate: 5/10; Overall: 7/20
Rating: 1.9/5.0
Drinkability: 5/10
Score: *+/4

On cask at the brewpub. No aroma. Served properly, a little warm. Clearly an English bitter style and bitterness. minimal head and soke lace on golden amber. Understated bitterness.

On cask at McNeill’s: Pours to a mostly clear orange/amber body with a medium, eggshell colored head that lasts. The aroma is mild, showing some hints of floral/grassy hops, flowers, light fruit, and mild earthy/cereal malts. The taste is mild as well (not "bad" though) showing light caramel, earthy, pale malts, a bit of light fruits, some bitter hops - though more floral/grassy than bitter citrus - the hops don’t taste American to me, or at least aren’t the typical cascade/chinook/centennial/other high AA variety. Light-medium bodied, smooth and creamy on the palate, moderately carbonated. Nice.