Mill Street Tankhouse

[GregClow]

so SA'a brewer/owner is a frelance brewer taking capacity for his beers where he can find it?

Yes, Doug has no brewery of his own. He's currently brewing the Lager at Cool (previously F&M), and has done one-off beers at Stratford and Heritage.

He also worked with C'est What on their Sierra Summer Ale a couple of years ago. It was supposed to be the first in a series of seasonals that he was going to do with them (presumably being brewed at County Durham), but that never happened. Too bad, it was a nice little beer.

[old faithful]

I had a bottle at Smokeless recently (Tankhouse Ale). I find it the same beer as when first released. Its carbonation level seemed perhaps a bit lower, but that is a good thing. Excellent product and very "1980's American Pale Ale" in style.

Gary

[habfour]

Huge fan of Mill St. from day one.

Saying the recipe is the same, is the same as saying "I see and hear no evil". Mill St., pay attention, as you try and expand the empire don't forget what got you there in 1st place. Creemore may be a good example of the brew changing, but let's not forget Upper Canada and Connors, who lost sight.

What made Tankhouse great was that in our market it was unique, straying from that could be the thin edge of wedge to people going elsewhere for something different. Sales volume isn't always the best predictor of staying power in the market. Pay attention, the customer really is always right !

[PRMason]

The customer isn't always right, but the customer is ALWAYs the customer. Without you we are nothing.

[Stomp Brockmore]

This weekend, after having a number of Tankhouse Ales, I can conclude that it isn't the same beer as before, despite what I said in my previous comment. Perhaps that bottle was closer, but of these last 2 sixes I picked up, it's definitely a bit more sweetly malty than it was before. The hop bitterness has been toned down somewhat. Now, that said, it's still a very fine, excellent ale, but it's not nearly as grassy/piney as it was originally. I still like it a lot the way it is, but I preferred it before. The changes are not hugely dramatic, but they are there.

I've also noticed that the Sgt. Major's seems to be making small baby steps back to its original self...the latest 6 I picked up, with an "A" date code was lighter in appearance (more gold than amber) than recent batches, with slightly more grapefruity hop character, and slightly less malt (and Heritage "funk" or whatever it is I notice in all their beers...)

[Derek]

After ranking this the highest at Volo's blind tasting, I thought I'd give this another shot.

The bottles still aren't doing it for me. There seems to be more floral hop character than ever, and there's a subtle burnt maltyness as well. I'd rank this in the mid 3's.

The sample at volo must've been particularly fresh, or perhaps the keg is just that much better (though I had it at C'est What a couple years ago & wasn't fond of it then either).

I wish I had bought another pack of Sgt. Major. It might not have quite as much hop bitterness & flavour as it used to, but it's an excellent brew. I thoroughly enjoyed that last six pack. I'm not a hop head, but it definitely satisfies my hop cravings (which isn't typical for an ontario brew).

Was the one at volo a different brew? ie. actually an IPA (the special brewer's reserve?). This might explain things. The regular tankhouse just isn't THAT good.