Scotch Irish Sgt. Majors IPA

Brewed by Heritage Brewing Limited
Style: India Pale Ale (IPA)
Carleton Place, Canada

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.