Scotch Irish John By Imperial Stout

Brewed by Heritage Brewing Limited
Style: Imperial Stout
Carleton Place, Canada

Bottle provided by HogTownHarry. Comes in a great stubby bottle with a beautiful label, and pours similarly well. The first aroma was rich coffee all the way, but as it warmed it became a bit lactic. Flavor is really quite similar, malts are a bit chewier, but the milky bit is really quite overwhelming. A pretty nice stout all in all, but I’m let down by the milkiness.

Appearance: Pours a body I’m told I might as well say is black with a full, tan-colored head. Smell: Aroma largely made up of roasted grains, but there are some notes of chocolate and coffee. Taste: Roasted malts with flavors of unsweetened chocolate, coffee, and a pinch of spicy aniseed and a dash of post-smoke pipe tobacco. Hint of scorched grains. Roasty, earthy bitterness. Finishes with a taste of dark chocolate and a sip of water. Mouthfeel: Medium-bodied. Medium carbonation. Drinkability: Hmm, not half bad! It’s nice to see something come out of a squaty bottle that’s not a weak, watery Caribbean lager.

Bottle thanks to Sammy: Pours a brown color with a brown head. Aroma is chocolate, roast, caramel, raisins, coffee, and plum. Flavor is roast, malt, caramel, coffee, chocolate, and plum

341ml, red stripe bottle, thanks to sammy @ AleAtlantaMeeting (Feb08). Aroma of coffee bean, chocolate. Rich coffee bean flavor. I like it.

Stubby bottle, opaque black, not much head. Lots of chocolate and malt. Light bitter finish. Decent brew.

Brown bottle, 341 ml, gift from Steve Gamble, savoured on February 11 2008; eye: black, opaque, voluminous cappuccino head that lasts, nice lacing; nose: pleasant roasting, nice vanilla lightly lactic, dark chocolate, slightly burnt; mouth: pleasant roasting, grainy malt offers the backbone on which clings some nice vanilla, a light lactic aspect, a bit of bitterness, long creamy finale in roasted with a little burnt side to it that is enjoyable, lightly bitter, full body, slightly grainy, lactic and slightly oily texture, not much carbonation; overall: nice discovery FRANÇAIS Bouteille brune, 341 ml, cadeau de Steve Gamble, savourée le 11 février 2008; œil : noire, opaque, mousse cappuccino abondante qui dure, bonne dentelle; nez : torréfaction plaisante, belle vanille, léger lactique, chocolat noir, très léger brûlé; bouche : torréfaction plaisante, malt granuleux offre une belle charpente à laquelle s’accroche une belle vanille, un léger lactique, une petite amertume, longue finale crémeuse en torréfaction avec un petit côté brûlé amère agréable, légèrement amère, corsée, texture légèrement granuleuse, lactique et légèrement huileuse, peu carbonatée; en résumé : belle découverte

2008-03-21. Bottle, Black Cap. Pitch black, good fingers worth of creamy dark khaki head. Vinuous fruity aroma, tangy, lightly acidic malt, mild notes of strange fruit. Roast comes out more as it warms up. Flavour is similar tangy vinuous fruit, light roast has fair bit of acidity to it. Flavour rounds itself out more as it warms, but I still find the finish a bit odd. Lingering acidic dark fruit is a bit wonky. Average to medium bodied palate. 6+/5/7/3/14 - 3.6 Bottle from the LCBO, via Tupalev <P>2008-02-07 Bottle. Red Cap batch. Pitch black body with a big fluffy brown head that slowly fades. Aroma is quite roasty with a moderate acidic twinge to it. Fairly bitter roasty flavour with acidic undertones throughout. Mild chocolate and cocoa notes in the background, very mild hints at fruit. Sweet foundation balances it but the lasting impression is of dry bitter roast with a lingering light acidity. (7+) Smooth medium bodied palate is only lightly carbonated. (3+) Solid, but does not wow me quite the way I had hoped it would. 7/5/8/3/15 - 3.8

Big thanks to Tupalev! I owe you!! Black, big deep tan head. Nose is cocoa, burnt malt, toffee, some rich herbal twang, smoke, liquorice. Flavor is Cocoa & toffee, noticeable lactic twang, burnt but somehow not bitter malt. A good amount of sweetness, almost marshmallow. Hops come through in the finish with more of the liquorice. Slightly tingly end. Very nice!