Scotch Irish Sgt. Majors IPA

Bottle from Hopdog. Turbid orangy coppery color, with 2-finger off-white head. Aroma of heavy spices, florals, hops, citrus. The taste is very tart, with big spicy hops and citrus fruit. The oxidation ring is very brown, which leads me to believe that this one may have "turned" a bit, which would explain the extreme tartness. Nonetheles, this one was enjoyable.

orange, amber color. some hops in the aroma, but its faint, more malt than i would expect from an IPA, the bitterness is there, but i’m missing the floral citrus of the hops i would come to expect. i think this beer has gone downhill over the years, I’ll stick with the tankhouse in the Toronto area.

Dark orange amber with predominantly vegetal aroma. Vaguely fruity hop character with subtle malt and a kicking bitter finish. I didn’t find this as packed full of hoppy goodness as some others who rated it in years gone by... I wonder if it has changed over time?

Short-lived amberish head over foxy-amber beer. Very fresh, flowery hops nose with a touch of limepeel, lunaria, nectarine and garden herbs. Rather British hops flavour (despite it being Chinook...), quite bitter, with a touch of astringency in the finish; flowery, tad metallic finishing. Quite refreshing, smooth, but on the negative side, a bit light, short of empty finish, even if that’s not really a screaming shame at 5.5 % ABV. Quite good, if a tad bitter IPA. Which probably means its not unlike the historical originals - if only it were as alcoholic and malt-backed as those probably were. Txs to Canada’s most famous beerwriter!

loved this beer a few years ago was soo impressivly hopped, is still good and highly drinkable but miss the old days, will drink it any time its offered but wish for a return to old form

341 ml bottle - Pours a deep copper with diminishing white head. Aroma grapefruity and piney hops with a nice malt balance. The malt profile has been accentuated and the beer now has a much more balanced taste than before. Where the hops once dominated, there is now a harmony with the malt. Flavour is lots of pine with juniper, cardamom and some breadiness as well. Chocolate malt can be faintly noted in the long bitter finish, as well as a biscuity undertone. Sort of like Corporal Punishment-light (not in any way a bad thing).

Lot code: K 246. What happened to this beer? It is a lovely, malty product that exhibits decent balance, with a good deep maltiness and decent hop character, but it is NOT the punishingly hoppy brew that I recall from several month ago. I left a few bottles with my brother and I hope that he has not discarded them. I want to compare this product to what I have in memory and hopefully vindicate the brewery!!

341ml bottle - I don’t think I could honestly call this a "west-coast" style IPA. The malt profile is too high for that descriptor. This beer also seems to have undergone several variations. This one I’m rating is from the latest batch, where most of the early faults of changing breweries have been mostly remedied, though I do wish it was still as impressively hopped as it was when it was brewed by Church-Key, before Heritage bought the trademark. It pours a red/copper shade, with a small off-white head that leaves some really nice lacing. Minimal carbonation. Aroma is of sweet malt, along with grapefruity, citrusy hops. It’s nice and quite floral actually. The grapefruity quality continues into the flavour and is piney and resiny on top, while the finish is bitter with some good earthiness just underneath. Nicely balanced, with a unique flavour. I would place Scotch Irish towards the top of our best Ontario brewers. I wish they hadn’t sold the trademark to Heritage, as this beer (and other Scotch Irish brews) are not what they once were, even if still fine in their own right. I pine for a return to the old days, when this was one of the best beers in the province, if not country. Still a fine beer, but I will pick Mill Street’s Tankhouse Ale over this, when I used to do the opposite. Shame.

Edit: The latest batch, M236, seems to have gotten all the carbonation issues sorted, and is now much more appropriate to the style than it was before (IMHO). Perfectly minimal carbonation with a good, two-finger, white head on top.