United Nations of Beer

Old Ringworm

by Ashley Cotter-Cairns
(UNOB Towers)

Old Ringworm has to win the 'grossest name' awards of 2008, at least so far... Pretty hard sell, or maybe they figured that idiots like me would be unable to resist something with such an unlikely moniker. Whatever.

I grabbed the bottle at Burlington's high-end food store, City Market, which has an excellent selection of beers from various states, almost all available in single bottles.

Old Ringworm, from McNeill's Brewery in Brattleboro and weighing in at 7% ABV, is bottle conditioned and pours a clear, deep brownish-red-amber colour, with a barely noticeable little fluff on the top. There's quite a bit of carbonation going on, which bubbles up into the mouth as you taste it.

The smell is winterish, with notes of dried fruit and the promise of caramel (not unlike the Scotch ale style), but when you taste it, something's gone back to front. Instead of a sweet caramel taste undercut by bitterness, the initial bite is strongly and deeply bitter. A while after swallowing, a little thread of sweetness runs across your tongue, much like a decent maple syrup beer.

Most of the taste is malty. It's a bit like a slice of cake in beer form, with bitterness infused from grapefruit juice or zest of orange. Bitter more than bittersweet.

I'd drink it again, but only if you were paying for it. It's not good enough for me to go out of my way to buy more. Being bottle conditioned, I'd wager this one might improve with a couple of years in a cellar.