I've waited a few weeks to write this review because I needed some time to come down from the heady realization that this is without a doubt the best brew pub I've ever had the pleasure to frequent. I've been a home brewer since 1980, all my travels are done extensively in search of the perfect brew, and I can now sleep better knowing I've been to the Mecca of brew pubs. My former favorite brewery is located in a little town in the Czech Republic known as Velke Popovice, whose brew is known as Kozel. They don't import to the US, so now the 5.5 hour trip from NJ to Brattleboro will seem like heaven is just down the street. I've already changed travel plans for NY State to return to MacNeill's in a few weeks. Brewpubs are about the beer, and MacNeill's offers a large variety of distinct individual beers and ales. Other brewpubs that have attempted to offer such variety have always seemed to miss the point - they go for volume instead of quality. If you like high end atmosphere, stay in the city nearest you. If you like haute cuisine, go to Paris. If you like excellent beer, go to MacNeill's.
Review Source:I was skeptical about this place because of the other reviews on Yelp. Â We stopped here on our way home to hit one last breweryon the Vermont Brewery Challenge before we left. Â When we walked in, there was a large group singing traditional folksongs acapella. Â What a treat! We sat at the bar and the bartender was extremely friendly and helpful. Â We each purchased two four ounce glasses of different brews to try - so reasonably priced and so delicious! Â
The place is definitely a drinks only place - we saw a board outside indicating food specials but inside all we saw was a strange little kitchen area with a microwave and such. Â So I wouldnt eat here, and it is a little dumpy - but I would definitely go back for the beer!
This is a review update as I have been here recently:
- Really great English beer and they have at least 3 beers on cask, ie hand pump.
- Friendly bartenders who will let you sample a beer before committing to a pint.
- Cash only! This is quite problematic especially at a brewery that has food and when one can lose track of pints.
This place is kind of a dump besides the beer which is ok at best. Â As someone who's been to pretty much every single microbrewer in VT, McNeills falls short. Â I wouldn't dare eat here and the place was pretty much empty when I went on a Sunday evening. Surprising for a brewery that serves good beer.
I had the stout on cask and it was mostly half full after the carbonation settled. Â This pretty much was a poor man'a Guiness. At $5 a pint on a Sunday in a dingy bar I'd expect a least some specials that you'd see in better brewpubs.
Thank goodness I didn't eat here because the place should be on Bar Rescue. It's dirty and I don't trust a dirty bar that serves food. This place looks like it was rode hard and put away wet. Â It's sad because this place could be so much better if more investment was made on the food and look of the bar.
Weirdest brew pub that I have ever been to. Â There were mobs of children running around, people dancing to the original version of the macarana and a giant children's play area. Â This may not be very inviting for someone looking to have a few pints in peace, but it is interesting to visit a family friend bar. Â They also have some mighty fine brews. Â From strong imperial stouts to session beers, they serve up some of tastiest home brewed beers in the area. Â It makes a great stop for a post hike or ski beer.
Review Source:To be perfectly honest, this place was kinda sketchy. It's a kinda cute bar/pub, but had some sketchy clientele, and a slightly sketchy bartender. It did not feel AT ALL like a place that made it's own beer. Well, it is, but all the beer is bitter and/or dark. I have tried their Firehouse Amber Ale before, and it was decent, but seriously none of their beer is my type. I would most likely not come back here, and only stopped by here the one time to get my passport stamped. Sorry McNeill's!
Review Source:You know you a place has a weird atmosphere when a 6 foot tall Afriacn America drag queen walks in with a patriotic themed sequin dress with a matching a parasol and the bartender & some of the regulars act like nothing out of the ordinary is happening. This of course happens after the bartender leaves the bar for about 10 minutes after him and some other regular get in a loud argument with a woman who appeared to work there or at least kept walking behind the bar like she did. So a strange vibe was definitely going on here.
Their beer selections are traditional English & Scottish styles that are done very well. The prices are low, but the service was slow & unfriendly. The layout of the bar was also a bit strange because instead of tables they just had very long beer hall tables with benches.
They supposedly serve food, but I saw no signs of it and 2 different people walked in with pizzas from somewhere else and ate those with their beer. So clearly the locals know something.
The Porter was OK. Â While the place was empty except for a few people at the bar it took a while for the bartender to come over and he did not seem interested in describing any of their beers. "they are all good just pick one". Â After a bit he loosened up and answered some questions.
Review Source:Hands down, my favorite brew pub (if you can call it a brew pub) in the land. Â And I have quite a few to which I can compare. Â What makes McNeill's isn't anything chic or cool or hip... it's the fact that McNeill's doesn't even try to be about anything other than the beer.
And the beer is good.
Sure, it smells a little funky when you walk in, but that's probably how most brewpubs smell but are masked by the food. Â The food at McNeill's? Â I'm still not completely convinced it exists because other than chips and salsa and peanuts nothing else on the menu is ever available. Â But I'm not complaining. Â McNeill's is about the beer, the bartenders and the crowd. Â All are exceptional. Â
For years when living in Bennington (other end of Southern Vermont) this was a frequent stop. Â Several times a month I'd be at the bar with either Kris or a friend or two. Â You can't escape having a great conversation with someone else, it's kid friendly, there are board games, darts and everyone's favorite game, "Fun In Vermont", which consists of a hook and metal ring hanging from a wire.
The cast of characters varies but it's a diverse group with regulars spanning the spectrum from high school social studies teachers to artists to tourists (fewer than you'd expect) to tatted up hipsters. Â The great part about McNeill's, though, is that while in other places these groups wouldn't generally mix, all are equal at McNeill's.
If you're in town I can't recommend enough a stop at this institution.
The brilliant thing about food adventuring is that you never really know what you're going to get. Even if you read all the reviews and downloaded all the menus, there's still a mystery until you're actually there (and "there" could be anywhere for the food adventurer). Such was the feeling when my wife convinced me to stop for lunch in Brattelboro on a trip through Vermont.
Snow was falling and I had a craving for a cozy Ale house. Enter McNeill's Brewery! Perched on the end of a side street, McNeill's is a classic Vermont spot, slightly ramshackle, thrown together with love, and full of good beer. The young bartender was super nice and the only folks in the place was a father with two toddlers, who were soooo cute they seemed to fit right in to the ambiance.
The brew pub itself was really simple and down-to-earth with communal wooden tables and benches, a wooden bar (stocked with not just beer, but some good lookin' whiskey too), and a few bar games. The beer however was not simple, but full of yummy complexity and goodness. My favorites were the Pullman Porter and the Deadhorse IPA. The IPA was spot on with a beautiful floral aroma and a clean bitter finish. The bartender let us know that if we wanted food they had some soup, but that we could order sandwiches from next door (another interesting looking bar). So we settled down with our beers, had a big cup of homemade Black Bean soup, and felt right at home.
All in all, McNeill's is a great spot to stop on your way up North. Infused with a VT hippie vibe and a laid back atmosphere, the beer is cold and good...the food is, well, food...but the beer is cold and good, and hey that's what really matters...
Me and My husband had a good time visiting this bar on New Years eve and trying out all of the beers. The bartender gave us some small samples of each one on the house which was very nice of him. I do not remember the names of them all but there were two that were exceptionally tasty. The funny part was that there was this drunk dude sitting next to us talking to us and what not. When he left we found out that we was the famous Mr. McNeill who lived right upstairs.
Review Source:When I moved here the first thing I noticed was my proximity to this bar.
It both worried and excited me.
I like McNeill's but they never have the beer I want on tap! They are just THAT award-winning I suppose?!?
The brews have won some major awards throughout the Northeast but because I always have to settle for second, third or fourth choice I have yet to try any that I am dying to go back for. Â This spot is chill for just grabbing a brew and playing board games with a few friends on any given night. Â Oh, forget about ordering food... they never seem to have that either.
As soon as you walk in you can tell this place is the real thing. You can tell it has great beer but just looking at their food menu. Yeah! Nacho with cheese, pita with humus and something else (can't remember).
The beers are amazing. All of them. Even on a hot summer day, a beer that was at room temperature was refreshing and tasty.
Wifey and I had such a good experience one day while visiting Brattleboro that we had to come by the next day before we made our way back to New Haven. With such short time we asked the bar tender for a flight of beers, to get a good taste of everything available, and she hooked it up. For a $1 per sample she gave us 7 extremely generous glasses. Needles to say that we had to postpone our return for several hours.
For all the real beer drinkers, this is a must when visiting Brattleboro.
Great beer, always a good selection, and what's not to love about a growler? Unless things have changed a lot recently, they never had a liquor selection, which I can understand but it's still a void in my alcoholic plans.
The staff is as friendly as you are to them, they don't try to buddy up if you don't, which I appreciate. I'm not a fan of the constant smell of dirty hippie. Nor am I a fan of the deliberately weird patrons who try to freak you out with their outlandishness and affected quirks.
I grew up with LES musicians, jugglers, clowns and magicians. You are never going to raise an eyebrow, promise.
Other than that, it's a good place to stop by briefly to sample a specialty, and take a nifty jug home with you.
I would like to summarize my feelings for McNeils with a a few short words, great beer at a decent price. McNeil's Brewery has a wonderful atmosphere, it is both old new england yet artsy. But enough about the atmosphere the beer is the main attraction at McNeil's Brewery, and it never fails to deilever. Expect to drink fresh beer, which makes a world of difference when it comes to taste. The beer always tastes crisp and never stale or even mild it always seemed to retain its taste whenever I went there. Also the beer seems to have a high alcohol content as once when my friends and I went there we all got drunk off of three drinks each.
Review Source:It's amazing that I've never been to this place until last night. Damn it's a great bar. They brew their own beers, which are delicious. The bartender was super friendly even though she was really busy. The atmosphere is pretty comfortable and I completely forgot that it was way too crowded and hot the second I sat down and took a sip of my beer. The music last night (some local bluegrass band) was also pretty darn amazing.
Review Source:You can't visit Brattleboro without stopping in at McNeill's Brewery. Great selection of beers on tap including: Blond Bombshell, Kolsch, Warlord Imperial, FireHouse Amber Ale. They have homebrews that'll knock your socks off.
The atmosphere is mainly local - couple of tourists (skiers) pass through on occasion, but it's definitely a down-home, local pub. There are long butcher block style hightops (people mainly stand at them) with some scattered stools. You can sit at the bar and chat with the wide variety of locals (I've been here and seen some weird sh*t - it's Vermont...!!) but it's always entertaining.
This is the place most microbrewers lay awake at night trying to come to grips with the fact that they will never be.
A lot of truth here, good and bad, but this is the only brewery I know where the beer tastes like the beer that the best homebrewers I know make. Â After McNeill's you realize that there is a lot of nonsense and chicanery going on in the 'microbrew' world around Boston (and a lot of other places), in which a lot of slightly interesting beer that will offend the fewest and consequently sell the most is all you usually can get. Â In contrast to this dumbing down, McNeill's seems to be beer made by and for people who actually really like beer. Â Which is good because people drinking here usually seem to be in a good mood, probably because they're drinking such good beer.
There is no nonsense here -- no food of consequence, little decor, and not exactly what you'd call heartwarming hospitality. Â Plus it's periodically a little messy, and things run out. Â So what. Â This is still the only bar that my mind ends up considering driving two hours to on odd Saturday afternoons, several beautiful ones of which I have happily lost drinking beer and talking to whoever happens to be in McNeill's. Â People seem to talk to strangers here, by the way.
Plus the beer is so, so cheap for what you're getting. Â Unbelievable.
Either the best beer you've ever had, or some of the worst, and my favorite brewery in the universe, despite its beer quality bipolarity, summarized below, and reason for less than 5 stars. Â
When they're on, they're ON! Â The imperial stout has to be the best dark beer the universe has ever tasted. Â
When they're off, good lord are they off!! Â An old acquaintance from the Marlboro ten-mile club once said of Vermont beers, "good when they don't taste like patchouli and head lice." Â McNeill's, when off, resembles SOMETHING unfortunate like that...
Back to the positive - it's only $3.25-50 a pint for (often) great beer in a dive that happens to brew in the basement. Â Long tables for socializing with strangers. Â Great vibe of wacked out locals, their bicycles, their dogs, their toddlers, their opinions, Alfred and/or Ray.
Great beer motto, up there with Ben Franklin's "Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy,"
Says Ray McNeill on their t-shirt, "Beer is the reason I get up each afternoon." Â Â
Good bets for beer? Â Any stout (Imperial, Oatmeal, Regan's), the Ruby Red, the cask ESB, Old Ringworm barleywine.
It pains me to write this, where I will essentially slam something that has long been a beloved entity of downtown. I thought it would be easier to do, given the recent influx of shiny new watering holes, but it isn't. I love this place because it's dingy and simple and unfettered and definitely not trying to be something it isn't.
The beer USED to great, sometimes I'd be travelling and mention my hometown and someone's eyes would light up and say "McNeill's!" But the current state of affairs there is beyond unacceptable. First off, the "beer" I've been served there in recent months no longer tastes as it should. Something in the brewing process, somewhere underneath our feet in the pit of that building is going horribly awry. We still go in there, because force of habit gravitates our friends there when they're in the area for the holidays, and it would only seem natural once inside to order a beer. But I resist it, knowing the disappointment that will follow. More than disappointment, a few of us have felt ill after only having one pint.
My other primary beef is with the dartboard- the thing is so old and tattered that it can no longer hold the freaking dart in the bullseye. These things illustrate what's been going on for so long, total neglect. Despite the efforts of a few  bartenders this place is going down the tubes. Down the tubes to lord knows what goes on at the brewery below. I hope he just sells the place so it might find a owner who actually cares enough to restore it to its former glory. I miss you, McNeill's.
McNeill's (also known as Dewey's, its former incantation) is the hands-down best micro-brewery in the US. Bar (sic sic) none. I know, I know, it's a big claim to make. I drank here every Friday night during college. I also consumed their beer every Friday morning in organic chemistry class (the proffs at Marlboro are so kickass, they let slide such behavior). The bartenders roll the barrels up from the cellar brewery right underneath your very feet. They make an India Pale Ale and an Oatmeal Stout that I crave so much, I've had to have my local liquor supplier order the 32os. bottles for me. Their nachos are also killer. Great place to hang out on the weekend and pick up all of the town's gossip. Shout's out to Bratt brats!
Review Source:
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