The freefall of Scotch Irish IPA

irishkyle21 · Post by **irishkyle21** » Mon Jul 21, 2008 4:19 pm

Picked up a six pack this weekend in Toronto. Drinking one as I type, I am a huge hop head and I still find this beer to be bitter but also very drinkable. I have never had it until last year (cask) so I cant really compare it to its infancy but I would put it just a couple of notches under the Southern Tier IPA.

Jon Walker · Post by **Jon Walker** » Mon Jul 21, 2008 6:21 pm

irishkyle21 wrote:Picked up a six pack this weekend in Toronto. Drinking one as I type, I am a huge hop head and I still find this beer to be bitter but also very drinkable. I have never had it until last year (cask) so I cant really compare it to its infancy but I would put it just a couple of notches under the Southern Tier IPA.

Check to see if the batch number you're drinking is the same one that prompted this thread. It remains possible and within the discussed pattern of inconsistency if a later batch had suddenly regained some if its hoppiness.

irishkyle21 · Post by **irishkyle21** » Mon Jul 21, 2008 7:21 pm

Jon Walker wrote:

Check to see if the batch number you're drinking is the same one that prompted this thread. It remains possible and within the discussed pattern of inconsistency if a later batch had suddenly regained some if its hoppiness.

I think it says H97S but as you said at the start of the thread its hard to read the batch number.

Jon Walker · Post by **Jon Walker** » Mon Jul 21, 2008 8:43 pm

Considering all the letters/numbers are different then you are indeed drinking a different batch. Personally I have little interest paying the money for SI IPA and hoping that a given batch happens to be up to snuff. So many of them aren't so I'd simply rather give my money to a brewer who can get it right 90% of the time rather than 20%.

KwaiLo · Post by **KwaiLo** » Mon Jul 21, 2008 9:30 pm

I buy the Sgt. almost every time I am at my cottage near Huntsvile. There is a LCBO in Dwight that I go to, that has all of their beer in a cooler room.

I haven't had a bad batch, although I have had some that are less than others. I will keep buying it, as I have to hope that this problem is as much the storage at the LCBO as anything else.

I do have a beef with the listed alcohol % though, I found that I had drank 12 over the course of a hot day working outside. This isn't something I can commonly do and keep working, so I think that is was much lower than posted.

Jon Walker · Post by **Jon Walker** » Mon Jul 21, 2008 11:07 pm

KwaiLo wrote: I haven't had a bad batch, although I have had some that are less than others. I will keep buying it, as I have to hope that this problem is as much the storage at the LCBO as anything else.

Again, SI IPA comes in dark brown glass stubbies in a sealed six pack box. Unless the LCBO is microwaving whole batches I see no reason to suspect they are responsible for the beer's consistent inconsistency. The LCBO can also not be blamed for the beer varying in colour, strength and carbonation...so I remain steadfast that this is a Heritage issue for the most part.

JesseM · Post by **JesseM** » Mon Jul 21, 2008 11:27 pm

Jon Walker wrote:...Unless the LCBO is microwaving whole batches I see no reason to suspect they are responsible for the beer's consistent inconsistency...

Oh I wouldn't say it's beneath them

.

KwaiLo · Post by **KwaiLo** » Tue Jul 22, 2008 8:28 am

Jon Walker wrote:Again, SI IPA comes in dark brown glass stubbies in a sealed six pack box. Unless the LCBO is microwaving whole batches I see no reason to suspect they are responsible for the beer's consistent inconsistency. The LCBO can also not be blamed for the beer varying in colour, strength and carbonation...so I remain steadfast that this is a Heritage issue for the most part.

Jon, I am not saying that what you experienced didn't happen. Merely relating my own experience with the product.

Belgian · Post by **Belgian** » Tue Jul 22, 2008 11:33 am

Sure, and your speculation about faulty storage seemed far too unlikely in the common experience of many, hence the comment.

You're also getting much fresher Sarge IPA than any of the Southern Tier that was held back for stickering, and this other IPA held up rather well.

PRMason · Post by **PRMason** » Fri Jul 25, 2008 8:07 pm

Thank you for keeping tabs on the Sarge. I don't often drink it myself anymore. My experience with Heritage has disillusioned me greatly and I haven't the stomach to see what has become of my creation. I do notice that there are "floaties" and haze in the bottles, even when fresh. This was very apparent in the bottled Stuarts's.
The name and brands no longer belong to me so i can't affect their future. Keep drinking the good stuff and I'll keep working on Hopping Wolf.
Perry

sstackho · Post by **sstackho** » Fri Jul 25, 2008 8:42 pm

That was the saddest post ever.

DougShoemaker · Post by **DougShoemaker** » Fri Jul 25, 2008 10:07 pm

Perry,
First of all, Thank You for posting. Thank You for Your honesty, nothing less is expected from those who know and admire You. Those of us, who know and admire You, wish You best of success with Your new venture(s). Please come along to the next Volo Cask Days. It would be great to see You again Sir.

Cheers, Doug

Belgian · Post by **Belgian** » Sat Jul 26, 2008 4:55 pm

PRMason wrote:
Keep drinking the good stuff and I'll keep working on Hopping Wolf.
Perry

Why is that the saddest post ever? It sounds like Perry is still interested in brewing some kind of extreme Pale, somewhere.... and also his comments speak of integrity (which speaks even louder in his fine brews.) Not all business "partnerings" work, and Heritage I guess have the right to do their own thing even if Sgt Majors is not a real IPA to me. They just own the name, we can move on, and if they make other beers I like, I'll drink those instead.

Clearly brewing has never made Perry an industry baron, but this has never stopped him from being one of the best we've got here.

sstackho · Post by **sstackho** » Sat Jul 26, 2008 7:12 pm

Good point - that's looking on the bright side!

Looking forward to Hopping Wolf.

Bobsy · Post by **Bobsy** » Thu Sep 04, 2008 2:23 pm

Picked up a sixer from Summerhill, which I believe was bottled in August. I would no longer class this as a beer that stands out from the crowd, and I think I would turn to one of the US IPAs or perhaps the Black Oak Pale before considering this again. The bitterness was there, but the malt body seems to have died. It was still a drinkable offering, but no longer a great one.

I still have high hops that the John By will be just as good as last year, and that Perry's new enterprise takes off.