Posted by Greg Clow in beer, beverages on January 8, 2008 at 6:35 pm
Back in March, 2005, Scotch Irish Brewing owner and brewmaster Perry Mason casually mentioned on the Bar Towel discussion forum that he was considering brewing a one-off batch of a traditional Russian Imperial Stout, and wondered if there would be enough interest to make it worth his while. Originally created by British brewers in the 18th and 19th century, Imperial Stouts were created especially for shipment to Russia and the Baltic states, with the levels of hops and alcohol pumped up to allow the beer to survive the journey.
Given the rarity of this style of beer in the Ontario market, it didn't take long for a slew of stout-starved beer lovers to chime in with unanimous approval for the idea, so Mason went ahead with the brew on a pre-order basis, and a few months later, we were all enjoying our vintage-dated bottles of Tsarina Katarina Imperial Stout, a dark and rich brew with big, warming notes of licorice, coffee, chocolate and smoke.
Mason originally hoped to do an annual release of the beer, which would've made for a nice vertical tasting at some point down the road, but the sale of the Scotch Irish name and brands to Heritage Brewing in early 2006 caused those plans to be set aside, at least for one year. But there was much rejoicing last summer when Mason announced that Tsarina Katarina would be returning in 2007 as part of the LCBO's Winter Warmers release. And after months of anticipation, it finally hit the shelves just in time for the holidays.
So why, then, is this column about a beer called Scotch Irish John By Imperial Stout?
Well, for reasons that have never been completely explained, Heritage decided to change the name of the beer from Tsarina Katarina (which paid tribute to both the heritage of the Russian Imperial Stout style, and to Mason's young daughter, Katarina) in order to honour Lieutenant-Colonel John By. Those who remember their Canadian history will know By as the man who oversaw the construction of the Rideau Canal after his retirement from the British military in the 1820s, and who in turn founded the worker's settlement of Bytown, which later became known as Ottawa.
It must also be said that more than just the name has changed. Since Mason is no longer directly involved in brewing the Scotch Irish beers (aside from occasional festival brews and one-off casks), he passed the recipe to Heritage brewmaster Ancil Hartman. And even though he was working with the same ingredients in the same ratios, Hartman ended up producing a brew that somewhat different, but just as good as its predecessor.
Both beers are deep, deep brown, to the point where they might as well be black, and form rich mocha coloured heads when poured. But while the Tsarina had an almost vinous character along with notes of licorice and smoke, John By is much more roasty, with huge notes of dark coffee and bittersweet chocolate in both the aroma and flavour. It also lacks the faint lactic tinge that was found in Tsarina Katarina's finish, and instead some hops poke through to linger on the palate, although not as strongly as in some American examples of the Imperial Stout stout style. Finally, the label tags the alcohol at a relatively tame (for the style, at least) 6.7%, in contrast to the original beer's 9% - although rumour has it that internal testing at Heritage pegged the John By as being closer to 10%, so drink with caution.
John By Imperial Stout is currently available at selected LCBO locations (LCBO 72934 - $2.50/341 ml) as part of the Winter Warmers beer promotion, and Heritage is doing their best to keep up with demand, with batch number three soon to be bottled. Hopefully, stock will remain available until the promotion officially ends in mid-March, and based on the reception so far, there's a good chance that it will become a regular winter seasonal. Which means that a vertical tasting might be able happen after all.
