McNeills Summer IPA

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

Serve in Shaker, Tulip

My Bottom Line:
Fruity yeast and a caramel malt backbone benefit from a coniferous and floral hop zing, building a quenching and accessible example of the style.

Further Personal Perceptions:
-A ring of foam circles the cloudy dark amber.
-This IPA’s flavor profile seems to be a cousin of their ESB’s.
-Hops also offer lenient citrusy fruitiness throughout.
-Natural carbonation offers a relaxed mouthfeel.
-This is not one of those IPAs which is bursting with godly hoppiness; it is a balanced quencher.

On tap at the brewpub.

on tap-pours an off white head that laces and hazy amber color. Aroma is some citrus hops-grapefruit, musty. Taste is citrus/resin/pine, secondary musty, medium malt-caramel.

Tap at Barcade. Copper coloured pour with a creamy white head. Aroma is nicely hopped. Soft pine needles and a bit of light orange peel citrus. Fairly crisp body and surprisingly clean tasting for something from McNeills. I don’t know if they’ve got their new brewery up and running yet, but something about this is different (and for the better). Soft bitterness with a light herbal backnote. One of the better offerings from these guys.

Very pungent hop aroma is floral and musty. There is a musty flavor as well. The beer was filled all the way to the top and the carbonation was low. Still drinkable though

I thought this was a really nice combination of flavors. I enjoyed the IPA while still having the lighter summer touch. Very nice summer ale!

Draught pint at Redbones on 7/11/06.
Dark burnished copper with a hint of light auburn and a bit more dull beige on the edges. Quite dark, surprisingly. Beige head is small, shows moderate retention and laces brilliantly in full sheets on the glass.
Strongly earthy, grainy malts in the nose suggest very high attenuation, while English hops combine with lightly floral and citric American hops to provide a balanced, dry and slightly herbal nose (hints of white pepper, oregano, dill). Strong yeastiness adds nuttiness, as in all McNeill’s beers and further contributes to the drying effect of the aroma. Perhaps some fruitier hops would enliven things and break the somewhat monotonous, bone-dry nose that is mostly hops. The earthy, soily, grainy malts are lightly toasty as well and show an ever-so-slight hint of toffee sweetness/chewiness upon warming.
Bitter hops pack quite a punch upon first sip, as yeast is woven in to the mix, keeping things dry and adding a chewy nuttiness. Malts become dirty, lightly tannic and very grainy on the end. Extremely attenuated, and in that regard, a wonderful sessionable beer for Summer. But with the drying floral bitterness, grapefruit and lemon notes, and only a hint of sweeter melon, things are borderline too dry. And I love dry beers, so I could see this being a bit too much for many. Flavoring hops, again, could be more expressive/unique, but for a session ale, the moderate bitterness and less-than-intense hop flavor allow it to be drunk in more quantity, one might argue. As always though, the mouthfeel is soft in carbonation, yet chewy and supportive in body, without nearly any wateriness. No alcohol noted in aroma or flavor.

Draught pint at Red Bones 7/11/06. Pours a dark copper color with a white fluffy head. Nose is very earthy hops, lots of dryness, some light english dirty malt notes. Palate is very dry and bitter, but also quite refreshing. Flavors are more of the earthiness. The hops are very earthy and dry, the malts are quite dirty and earthy. Finish is clean but bitter and dry.

Cloudy chestnut with a smallish, quickly dissipating white head. Aroma and flavor is resiny with a sharp lingering bitter finish. Earthy malt character and a grapefruit yeast character add the summer touch.