McEwans India Pale Ale

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 6 | Mouthfeel: 8 | Flavor: 10 | Overall: 10

started drinking McEwans IPA in 1967, loved it then still love it I thought it was bitter but I'm told its sweat, Today I bought a sweatish red wine, and was told it wqas one of the dryist. I only know what I like and what it tastes like to me. And I like McEwans India Pale Ale.

Aroma: 5 | Appearance: 5 | Mouthfeel: 5 | Flavor: 5 | Overall: 5

not a huge fan of this one. i bought it out of respect for their scottish ale, which i like, but this one fell pretty flat. tame for an "ipa" by any sane person's standards, boring to most.

Aroma: 3 | Appearance: 3 | Mouthfeel: 3 | Flavor: 3 | Overall: 3

Either a bitter or an IPA, it’s just really bad. The body is a dark amber/brown color, small off-white scant head. Aroma is earthy and wet paper. Flavor is caramel, butterscotch, wet paper, and dirty penny. Ugh.

Aroma: 4 | Appearance: 5 | Mouthfeel: 5 | Flavor: 5 | Overall: 5

To be quite honest, it's a decent beer, but falls short of some of the other players in the IPA game. It just lacks complexity and character in every instance.

Aroma: 6 | Appearance: 6 | Mouthfeel: 4 | Flavor: 4 | Overall: 5

Bottle. Poured a clear, dark brown color with a medium white head. Aroma of hops, but not too strong. More like a Pale Ale aroma than an IPA. Thin mouthfeel. Flavor not at all resembling an IPA. This was more of a Scotland Pale Ale, as the aftertaste reminded me of a Scottish Ale. If you are looking for an IPA, do not order a McEwan's.

Aroma: 6 | Appearance: 5 | Mouthfeel: 7 | Flavor: 6 | Overall: 6

Bottled. Dark copper coloured, small foamy white head. Fruity aroma with some hoppy hints. Flavour quite sweet hoppy bitterish. Not much IPA in this one, rather a very sweet bitter... Long hoppy aftertaste with some caramellish and hayish hints. Toffee in aftertaste too.

Aroma: 7 | Appearance: 6 | Mouthfeel: 5 | Flavor: 5 | Overall: 6

Not much for an IPA or for any aspect of true Scottish quality ales, but never the less a decent pic. I found the flavour a little on the distastful side, aroma not quite what youd hope for, a strong floral (grapefuity hops) character coming through negatively. Not a bad makeup but not good enough to be worth your time.

Aroma: 4 | Appearance: 5 | Mouthfeel: 6 | Flavor: 4 | Overall: 7

Very middle of the road. Nothing is standing out but nothing is detracting either. Decent beer.

Aroma: 7 | Appearance: 7 | Mouthfeel: 5 | Flavor: 7 | Overall: 7

An interesting, and yes, historical, take on the IPA style, in the Scottish tradition, for sure...in that its not an IPA, and is a fine Scottish Ale with a misguided label. Poured a darker amber/brown than most IPAs out there. Maintained a nice foam cap on down. An unfortunately weak mix of english hops and Scotch malts. However interesting, just not what it could have been: see O'Dell's 90 Shilling.

Aroma: 6 | Appearance: 6 | Mouthfeel: 6 | Flavor: 5 | Overall: 6

From a historic standpoint, Scotland played an important role in the evolution of Pale Ale and India Pale Ale -- including making the latter availble domestically to folks who grew to enjoy it while stationed overseas (India, and elsewhere). Saddly, the style faded, and was almost extinct after WWII. It was only the ingenuity of American brewers, who wanted bigger and hoppier brews to take advantage of the classic PacNW hops, that IPA came unto it's own again.

That having been said, this beer's labeling is a bit suberfuge on the part of the brewery -- plainly said, it's not an IPA at all. Scottish 60/- or 70/- ale, perhaps, but surely not big n' bitter enough to qualify as either an English or American IPA -- especially in light of the fact that 19th Century Scottish IPA's would be considered to be in line with modern-day Barleywine, specification-wise...!

Now, whether this 60/- or 70/- Scottish ale was relabeled to conform to modern revisionist tastes/markets, or has always been something of misnomer, it's hard to say. But it should be plain to see that this beer does a poor job if reviewed as an IPA -- and isn't all that interesting as a Scottish ale, either...!
//TB