McNall’s Mission
Cowbell Brewing Co.

Look: Yellowish Brown with hints of amber. Pours with a 2 finger beige head that dissipates after 5 minutes to leave decent lacing:
Smell: Sweet caramel with hints of earth and toast
Taste: Toffee, caramel, graham crackers, touch of hazelnut and bitter tea on the back end.
Feel: Very creamy with a strong body.
I liked this malty delight. I give it an strong B+

 

 

Appearance: Poured with a pinky finger of head that did not lace or stick around. The body is a nice dark brown, a bit too dark I would think for a honey brown which tends to be a be lighter. It also seems to have a quite a bit of sandy particulate floating about, leaving it a bit cloudy.

Smell: Strong toffee malt with a bit of musty straw with a touch of honey and almond and walnut. Warming really helped it come out .

Taste: Restrained toffee malt that's held back by a bit by nutty notes, to which then a brief water down paused with a touch of honey comes out before a bit of chocolate, grass and earthy funk comes forward to finish things off.

Mouthfeel: The transitioning is a bit of a bumpy ride here and points get deducted for the lack of head. It's carbonation is low, but it works for this one as I think if ti was strong it would be even more of a rough ride. I really like the malt and nut aftertaste.

Drinkability: Medium bodied, and I personally like my honey brown a bit lighter, because the malt and nut drowns out the honey myself, but that medium note would be fine if it didn't have that odd mild note when you drink it. Settles down very well though, as would be expected for the lower carbonation.

Final Thoughts: Honey Brown tends to work better with Lager I've found, because the malt isn't as forward and the body tends to be lighter. I found this one had a bit of identity crisis in that regard, but really presents itself as more of a standard brown ale. Regardless though, it's ride is a bit too funky and rough for me to recommend it. It's not bad, but you'll want to pass.

 

The beer pours a wonderful dark colour, implying a strength or bitterness that is not there. Darker than a regular honey brown (or I had hung onto the can for two months) it has a sweet taste offsetting a mild hoppiness. Quite pleasant, and not as bitter as the colour would suggest.

This beer is like drinking a bakery.. Hope I didn’t loose you on that. The hops are perfectly balanced to provide just enough bitterness to open rich malt flavours. Would love if the mouth feel was just a bit more creamy but overall this is a seasonal fav!

 

Deep reddish walnut colour which is fairly striking. Very short-lived head that goes to a ring almost immediately. Nose is sweet malt with a hint of pleasant roastiness. Toffee and chocolate. Sweet malt to taste, but pretty sharp on the palate. Cuts through the sugar, I'm thinking, keeps this from being smotheringly sweet. Some burnt sugar, grain and malt to taste. An interesting drink with a couple of rough edges, not quite in harmony with all it's parts, but pleasant enough to try.

473 mL can from the LCBO; dated Nov 27 2018 and served slightly chilled. I've had close to a half dozen cans of this over the past 5-6 months, giving me plenty of time to ponder this one.

Pours a clear copper-amber colour, with one centimetre of loose, frothy, off white-coloured head fading off within sixty seconds' time. A narrow collar lives on, but it leads a solemn existence, as there is no cap or lace to speak of. Not much of a looker, but the aroma is just fine with me - light honey sweetness blends seamlessly together with notes of sponge toffee, dark chocolate, bready, biscuity malts and just a hint of toasted nuts.

A pleasant, light-drinking honey brown that tastes sweet, but not cloyingly so. The malts remain dominant from start to finish, supplying a wide variety of flavours that include biscuity, bready malts, toasted grains & nuts, cocoa and toffee alongside just a hint of honeyed sweetness. Hints of cocoa, toasted nuts and earthy hops round out the back end. Light in body, with moderate carbonation levels that provide a crisp, prickly mouthfeel - just a bit too lively for a brown ale, at least for my tastes. Still, it's quite easy to knock back, even in multiples.

Final Grade: 3.75, a eking out a B+. Honey brown ales were one of my first loves, which is why I'm confident in stating that McNall's Mission is a darn good one. It isn't exactly perfect, but at the same time I'm having trouble coming up with genuine, worthwhile complaints - the relatively thin, fizzy mouthfeel is all I can come up with, and even that isn't much of a problem. Certainly one of Cowbell's better LCBO releases thus far: if they keep it coming, I'll keep buying it, as the selection of quality brown ales in these parts (honeyed or not) is a tad paltry these days.

 

 

473 ml can served cold into a hockey themed pint glass. Canned September 21, 2018. An LCBO purchase for around $3.20 CDN.

Appearance - hazy medium brown color with ruby highlights. Small half finger of head sits on too and burns off into a soapy film in mere moments. Not much lacing and medium visible carbonation.

Smell - plenty of grain with some earthy hops. Some metallicness to the nose. Very subtle suggest of fruit and honey on the nose too.

Taste - a little roasty, a little nutty, lots of grain and mild hops. Subtle honey sweetness in the background. Gets a little more butter in the aftertaste. Press trained and well put together. Maybe even a trace of chocolate hazelnut in there, something not far from Nutella keeps showing up.

Mouthfeel - medium bodied, good carbonation, finish is medium dry and a little prickly.

Overall - the nose is a little off, but otherwise McNall's mission is a moderate success, a tasty flavourful nutty brown ale with a little extra sweetness here and there. Goes with the season and certain worth a tipple.

Very surprised with this one. Wasn't expecting an awful lot, but there is a nice nutty and toasty taste to this one, good malt profile.

More of an English Brown Ale than an American because the hops are a bit lower as is the ABV. I think I might prefer it over Newcastle as it's not nearly as sweet.