Macardle's Ale
Macardle Moore

 

 

Colour is just right. Smell is a bit non existent but it's nicely balanced with a hint of caramel. Just the right amount of carbonation. A nice surprise at a reasonable price and available everywhere

 

 

 

Bright chestnut-amber with steady pitted off white froth that rings.
Proofing dough and mulchy leaf nose - a bit compost-y.
Apple peel, bran flakes, maybe some hazelnut, and raisin scone before a decent EKG leaf and spice hit.
Sweet little comeback and tingly dry finish.
Light, fizzy, slight cling.

Served off the shelf at the Glenmalure Lodge, Co. Wicklow.

Looks good, smells bad, tastes in between. Surprisingly present hops are the main feature. Not the deepest and wafer thin, but no dud notes and very sessionable. Beats Smithwicks and half the session bitters from the UK, and for 4%, it kinda rocks.

 

 

 

Appearance: Poured from a can into an Irish pub style (real) pint glass, in low altitude Galway, Ireland. Pours a three finger head, noticeably creamy and of moderate thickness. The head lowers quickly though the beer is only four percent ABV. It's a cloudy brown with a hint of amber. Not inviting per se.

Smell: A roasted cream scent, very hoppy. Not a strong scent, hard to detect.

Taste: A nice note of roasted barley unevenly alongside a more coarse yeasty taste. This beer has a real texture to it, and goes for a particular character that is a real success. The balance takes some getting used to. The finish is a delightful wet cream that is refreshing but leaves me immediately wanting more. Truly a remarkable finish.

Mouthfeel: Coarse, with a nice body of just the right thickness. A bit overcarbonated which may be explained by its being canned.

Other Irish beers use nitrogen to aid the head but this one doesn't need to. I'd definitely have another and am very impressed, though I'd like the flavours to be balanced a little better. The flavours give way to the finish at just the right time.

Pours a darker red with a slightly rocky head, a little biscuity malt aroma but no hops in it. A rather light-bodied beer with mild malt flavor and a little more in the hops than the usual macro-lager. Highlight is a crisp aftertaste, with a pleasant hop flavor finally breaking through. Not a bad option if your other choices are the big G and the rest of the lightweight macro swill.

Draught at The Brazen Head, and the Bull & Castle, Dublin, Ireland

A pleasant reddish-brown ale with no gimmicks or games (much like the roast beef, although the Bishop’s Finger Ale gravy was one concession to decadence). I thought the best part of the ale was the finish -- toasty, creamy, and floral.

Poured a medium amber hue with a finger and a half creamy pillowy white head. There was good retention and sticky lacing.

The smell featured a very faint caramel malt with an elusive flowery hop.

The taste was light and nearly absent. Upfront carbonation hides any and all flavors at the frot of the tongue. A mild toasted grain is detectable toward the finish. Certainly nothing offensive here.

The mouthfeel was light and very carbonated.

Overall certainly a highly sessionable ale. I wonder though if there was any red dye utilized in the brewing process. Beautiful set up with a disappointing finish. However, this is certainly heads and shoulders above the typical canned offerings available in the West of Ireland.

Tasted on draught in Mulligan's of Poolbeg Street, Dublin in March 06.

I was quite surprised to see the McArdles sign on the tap. I was not sure that this beer was still being brewed.
Looked pretty good, nice white head on a redbrown body. Clear. Not really much of an aroma present. Tasted fairly bland, not much going on, easy enough going down. A thin brew really.

They used to say in Ireland years ago that McArdles was better than Smithwick's in a bottle, but the other way around if on draught. I don't know if it still applies, but Smithwick's has a little more flavour.

Pours light orange-red. A bit too light. six inch fluffy white head and good lacing.

Peppery hoppiness, dominates the smell. Sweet malts as well.

Slight caramel sweetness up front, ends with a crisp bitterness that quickly recedes.

Too carbonated, takes away from some of the maltiness up front. Otherwise a pretty nice beer that held up pretty well in the can.

Picked up this 500 ml rust and black striped can on vacation last week in a supermarket in Ireland. Had heard of it previously but couldn't find it in any pubs. Rust bordering on brown color with little head and a plehora of visible carbonation. Nose is clean and malty but not overly strong.
Taste is round and full but the malt is not quite right, I wonder if they are using rice or another adjunct. Finish is crisp and aftertaste grows on you. Kind of an original taste but not a great one.
Well, it's not great but it's better then Smithwick's and the other lousy lagers that were in most of the pubs.

On tap

Pours with a reddy body, slight tan head with pretty poor retention

Smell, some biscuity aromas, slight whiff of skunky mustiness, slight hint of malt

Taste, crisp biscuity malt initially, some fizziness on the palette, roasted malt lingering in the background. Little hop presence

A dull and pretty lifeless red ale, the border's answer to smithwicks