Innis & Gunn Limited Edition Oak Aged IPA (Bottle)

Brewed by Belhaven (Greene King)
Style: English Strong Ale
Dunbar, East Lothian, Scotland

Bottle. Looks the standard golden-yellow, high carb, with a quick receeding white head. Aroma is like an oaked chardonnay, maybe sherry, and floral notes. Flavour starts oaky/whisky-like, with vanill anad citrus notes in the middle and a bready finish. Not a typical IPA, but quite drinkable.

Fabulous stuff. A nose rich and complex with toffee, oak, lime and leather. The forest oak bursts into the mouth, but quickly give way to the pale ale taste, which then turns a bit too limey. Such tartness is an unfortunate event to a near perfect start. For those who enjoy whisky, you will love this one. Many of the same characters that careful aging in oak will bring. So complex yet still crisp and refreshing.

Bottle bought at L.C.B.O. The color is honey with hardly any head. The taste well nothing like an I.P.A. should taste. This is my last IInnis & Gunn.

this is pretty atrocious. bottle from waitrose. sickly sick nose, stinks! taste badly badly balanced... i can’t drink this, greene king it is!

Clear amber, orange-tinted head. Aroma is predominantly of oaky vanilla. The entry is all woody oak, but there is a nice citrus oil undertone that offsets the buttery nature of the palate. I initially thought that this had a drier finish to counter the overpwering sweetness of this brew, but I’ve changed my mind since trying it once again. The malts are just too thick and sweet, and the oak only serves to emphasize this. Compared to the limited edition Canadian cask brew this was the clear loser.

330 ml. bottle. Dated 07 Dec 08. Aroma is something like herbal hop. Copper color with a decent white head. Medium body with creamy carbonation. Comes on bready sweet, with some herbal or floral hop, but not enough to dry it out. Leaves a sweet note in the finish. Arguably the hop is zesty, but what is it? Rather a different stroke at an IPA. Oak arrives after awhile.

50 cL bottle, thanks to Jens for letting me have a taste of this! Pours clear and golden yellow with a slowly diminishing and white head. Mild aroma yet with a light hops and solid wooden note. Flavour is quite speciel with distinct notes from the barrels providing a distinct aftertaste that is immensely poweful and lasting, as one coined it: notes similar to those of fresh peeled shrimps shells. Interesting although not my kind of beer.

[bottle from Waitrose, Marlow] "Only" 68,000 bottles produced of this. The attractive but unnecessary value-added packaging normally means this beer retails at 50p or so above the regular Innis & Gunn’s, but Waitrose had 25% off bringing it down to a reasonable £1.49. Pours amber with a moderate white head that is slow to dissipate. There is moderate carbonation that is well matched to the beer. Aroma is initially grassy hops, but is soon dominated by vanilla and wood. Taste is overwhelmingly of vanilla and cream soda and vanilla ice cream. There’s possibly (of all things!) some dolly mixtures in there, with oaky overtones; it put me in mind of some Glenturret 10yo single malt whisky I had recently (maybe they both use the same barrels or something?) Behind all this, there’s just a hint of citrus. It says on the bottle that it’s called an IPA because it’s made in the same way that IPA’s traditionally were - adding hops to the barrel before leaving it to mature. That may well be the case, but it certainly tastes nothing like a modern-day IPA. There’s no hint of bitterness here at all, in fact it’s one of the sweetest beers I’ve had. Despite that, it leaves none of the syrupy mouthfeel that strong and sweet beers often leave behind; instead it has a very clean, crisp mouthfeel - despite leaving you feeling like you’ve had a Mr Whippy Ice Cream! To be quite honest, I’ve never known another beer like this - as with most of the Innis & Gunn offerings, it’s very unusual, and very challenging - and I liked this one very much! Provided you think of this as a pudding beer (maybe you could use it as a sauce for your banana split?) and not an IPA, it’s superb!.