Innis and Gunn Original

The Beer

Brewed By:     Innis and Gunn Brewing Co. Ltd
Location:        Edinburgh, Scottland
Style:             Oak Aged Ale
Strength:        6.6% ABV
Rating:            *****

Comments

My initial expectation of this beer was that it would be too strong to actually enjoy other than a small glass with dinner on a special occasion.  It seemed snobby and pretentious - more for the foodies of the world than campfire and lawn chair types like myself.  I was so wrong.  While this beer may be perfectly comfortable at fine restaurant tables alongside lamb and french loaf, it goes surprisingly well with any meal from an overcooked Sunday roast to Tuesday's "I don't have time for this" spaghetti.  I guess since it goes with just about everything, it's easy to talk about and promote the beer as an excellent pairing for food which helps to maintain a certain appearance for the marketing of the brand.  Because of this angle, most of what you will read about this beer will be in the beer snob tones of nose and palate, finish and colour and other talk that should be reserved for wine drinkers. For the beer drinkers out there, let me put it in our terms - Innis and Gunn is really good - just try it - forget about all the preconceived notions you may have about a 6.6%, Oak Aged Ale and have one with your fish sticks this Wednesday.

Links

http://www.innisandgunn.com
http://www.innisandgunnnews.com

The Story

Brewed by Accident or so the motto goes….Innis and Gunn was founded in 2003 by brothers Neil Innis Sharp and Dougal Gunn Sharp while working for Caledonian Brewery who, at the time, was responsible to William Grant & Sons for providing ale seasoned oak barrels for use in maturing their Ale Cask Whisky.  While this successfully produced a fine whisky, the unwitting brewery threw away what would turn out to be a spectacularly unique and award winning beer.  This sweet and complex ale went unrecognized for some time (1000's of gallons were dumped) before Dougal Sharp caught wind of the workers drinking it instead of tossing it out like the barrel wash it supposedly was and decided to try it for himself - the Original Oak Aged Ale was born.  The original ale takes 77 days to mature 30 of which take place in toasted and charred, American White Oak Bourbon barrels shipped to Scottland from Kentucky.  The bourbon maturation process chemically alters the oak wood of the barrel changing the flavour that it imparts to the ale (ie the ale is not flavoured by the bourbon but by the wood of the barrel).  The USA, by law, only allows bourbon barrels to be used one time so for years, the American cast aways have been sold and shipped to Europe for use in whisky and rum production.  Innis and Gunn see this as a sort of "International Recycling Program" and are proud of their reuse of the wood.  After brewing the Original and experiencing encouraging and exciting success not only in Scottland and other parts of the UK but also in North America (Innis and Gunn is currently the best selling British import in Canada - celebrated annually with the special edition Canada Day beers!), the adventurous brewery has branched out to test different beer styles with a wide array of barrels. This variety is particularly evident in Innis and Gunn's 2011 lineup - there is the much anticipated Highland Cask (born from barrels used for 18 year old single malt Highland Scotch Whisky - obviously limited edition), the unimaginable Rum Cask (triple distilled Irish rum barrels with I & G's first ever Stout) and most recently, the Spice Rum Finish (a limited edition using Caribbean Rum spices and of course rum barrrels) and finally Winter Ale (a bigger, fuller version of the Original) .

Check out the Innis and Gunn news for up to date info on the latest creations and any tastings
that may be coming to your area - I & G is excited about their sales in Canada and are appearing at many local beer festivals throughout the summer.