Old Ringworm
McNeill's Brewery

served from the Cask at the brewery. dark amber copper in color. malty aroma, and the taste is also a bit sweet and malty. Nice soft and smooth mouthfeel

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Appears a hazy, dark mahogany with a small off white head that slowly fades into a gentle collar. Scattered bits of lacing are left around the glass.
Smell is of ripe fruit, barley, prunes, brown sugar, cherries, and rum.
Taste is of the aromas with barley and ripe fruit. Raisinsand vanilla are found in the background.
Mouthfeel is full bodied, viscuous, chewy, slightly astringent, and lip smacking. Sweet but not cloying.

Bomber purchased up in Vermont at the Brattleboro Food Coop. "Best before last day of" dating notched onto the bottom of the front label.

Look: dark amber, lasting darker tan head, stays at about 1/5 inch for ever and leaves some low sheeting and respectable bits of lacing.

Sniff: dark malts, the advertised butter, and some butterscotch.

Taste: Buttery sweet brew. Malted up and near cloying for my taste buds. Some cola, vanilla, coconut rum...feh, not really my cup of tea.

Tonguefeel: Carbonation is just about right, easy on the tongue.

Try again?: not likely, not really into the style, still waiting for any sign of hops to at least offer some balance...

A: A heavy pours yields a lighter fizzy head that fades quickly. The beer is slightly murky darker orange reddish brown slight mahogany and copper colored.

N: A rich nose, with lots of dark malts, crystal specifically, some brown sugar, a nice caramelized brown sugar aroma, some molasses, a slight syrupy aroma almost like Caro syrup, some toasty malt aromas to go with that. A sweet musty aroma that tends to come from an aged Scottish style ale. I get slight hints of a bitter earthy hop, but it's trying to hide from me.

T: Starts rich and sweet, as expected. Lots of brown sugar kick it off, with some caramel and molasses flavors with that. It adds to the sweetness, which is a little on the too sweet side for me. It has a malty base too, with some caramel malts, toasty malt flavors, and a slight hint of roasted flavors. It gets very slightly creamy too. It's slightly spicy, perhaps from a hint of booze, and there is also a little more slight hints of spicy earthy hops, which also adds a little bitterness. It has a nice subtle malty aged taste to it as well, that adds some complexity, and just that old ale style taste I can't really describe otherwise, which also seems to add a slight fruity quality.

M: Thicker, but not super thick, rich, with lower carbonation. Could have used a touch more carbonation, even for this style.

F: Finishes still pretty sweet, with lots of lingering caramelized brown sugar and molasses, with some lingering roasty and toasty malts, but this time some minerality comes through with the roasty malts, giving it that slight salty and earthy burnt malt flavor that would come in a stout typically. A little bitterness too, but now I'm wondering if that came from the roasted malts rather than the hops. A slight lingering sticky sweetness too. The more I drink it and the more it warms, it starts to get a lingering boozy taste and warmth too.

A nice rich beer, good old ale style, good malty flavors, but just a little too much sweetness and not enough carbonation.

Very cloudy beer. The color is solid brown. Nice head that leaves a ring of clumpy race. The head also sticks around throughout the tasting.

Strongly caramel in smell. There's a small amount of chocolate to the nose. Alcohol warmth is behind that. There's also an element of "Belgian" to the aroma.

The flavor is even more Belgian--blindfolded, I would envision a Belgian Brown Ale. Strong alcohol taste in the swallow. The aftertaste is short lived. The body is below expectations with a higher-than-expected level of carbonation.

22oz Bomber

A big thanks goes out to BeerTruth for this brew from awhile back, thanks Adam! Old Ringworm fills my snifter with a cloudy hazy ruby red with hints of orange running throughout. A few tiny carbonation bubbles rise to the surface. A dense bone white head grows to two fingers easily on the pour and at its lowest point falls to a healthy finger while leaving lacing all over the glass.

I expected an old ale out of this but I get something entirely different. There's big doses of caramel, spicy hops and dried fruity sweetness. I don't know where to classify this beer. The ringworm is noticeable but not nearly as buttery as I've experienced in others brewed with it. The caramel lays down the malt base while melon, strawberry, dried pineapple, and golden raisins all play their part nicely. There's an Interesting aroma in this brew.

The flavor follows along the same lines. The caramel maltiness gets laid down the second this beer hits the tongue, while all the interesting fruitiness comes along mid-palate. The ringworm adds a teeth coating butteriness but isn't so much buttery as it is creamy and spicy. The hops add to the spiciness while all that fruitiness form the nose is translated better on the tongue. This is an interesting beer and I'm not totally sure what to make of it. I do like it though.

The carbonation is pretty noticeable in the moderate body and makes this beer work through pretty quickly. The hops grow slightly and end up leaving some bitterness behind as I drink.

This beer goes down easily. The lively carbonation keeps things flowing. The hoppy and malty fruitiness make it refreshing and easy going down.

This is a pretty good beer from McNeill's. I didn't get an old ale like I expected but what is there is tasty. I'd pick this beer up if I saw it on the shelves. Thanks for another great trade and a knock off my "wants" Adam!

L: Pours a nice brown color with a short and medium bodied white colored head that leaves some nice lacing down the glass as you drink it.
S: Smells of very nice sweet malts, some caramel even and a tiny bit of hops at the end.
T: Tastes of sweet malts, a bit of caramel malt, some slight hoppy bitter, then finishes with a molassesy taste to it.
M: Lighter than it looked, could have used a tiny bit more carbonation, with a nice alcohol twang at the end.
D: OK, probably would not have more than one of these in an evening though.

Bottle: Poured a deep copper color ale with a huge foamy head with good retention and some lacing. Aroma consists of huge caramel malt with some nice notes of toffee and subtle dry fruits also noticeable. Taste is a mix between again some huge caramel malt with some very interesting notes of toffee and dry fruits. Medium sweetness is well balance with a full body, some great carbonation and no apparent alcohol. I hard heard that chances were that Mcneill's bottles could be infected but I have to admit that this one was quite good.

Served in a standard pint glass. Poured a garnet color with a cloudy appearance. Half-inch off-white head quickly dissipated into a thin skim of foam and ringlets before finally coalescing around the sides of the glass; no lacing present during the tasting. Scents of dark fruit with some caramel undertones in the background. Taste similar to nose; however malt presence is revealed, as well as a mild astringency at the finish. Mouthfeel was somewhat on the thin side for the style, with very little effervescence. Decent drinkability - alcohol was well-hidden, and flavors were nicely balanced. I've had the opportunity to have this on tap, and it's almost like they are two completely different beers. Flavors were similar, but body and flavors were much less intense out of the bottle.

Opened a bottle on Christmas 2007, having purchased it in Vermont five months ago. Upon first pour into my imperial pint glass, the it starts with a loose, spongy head that immediately sinks beneath the rim and dissipates leaving no lacing - I mean none at all. (Due to age, perhaps?) The initial color is a mahogany brown with some cloudiness; in fact, it never attains any clarity, but remains somewhat murky. One does notice a few pinpoint bubbles rising from the glass bottom.

As for the smell: there was a slight hint of clove and caramel, though neither overwhelming.

The taste is heavy on the malt with a slight hoppy bitterness retention. Note that intensity increases as the beer warms to room temperature - let it sit prior to the pour.

Ringworm offers a heavy, yet not quite balanced mouthfeel; however, the alcohol is not the least bit subtle. In any case, it is a fine winter warmer - makes for a pleasant, but simple, seasonal quaff.

Not my favorite from McNeil's, a brewery that still remains a reliable choice for those seeking decent Vermont crafts.