Innis & Gunn Limited Edition Oak Aged IPA (Bottle)

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

Aroma of whiskey, malt smoke and wood, amber, pours a small white head. Flavour is a softly smoked malt, hints of single malt and treacle too, alcohol is evident, too much oak. Medium bodied, very rich texture, boozy, quite dry. It’s the most unusual IPA I’ve ever tried.

330mL boxed bottle from the LCBO. Pours gold, average head. Taste is bizarre: take the standard Innis & Gunn Oak Aged (a good beer), and mix it with a dash of an IPA. It doesn’t work. Weird citrusy hops meet the toffee-like standard Innis and Gunn. The flavours can’t mesh. It doesn’t work well.

Amber color, low carbonation, small white head. Aroma of butter, crackerjack, maple syrup and flowers. Flavor starts with caramel sweetness then a vinous acidity (oak?) takes over and finally ends on discrete roasted malts bitterness. Despite a certain complexity, the flavors do not melt very well. The palate is a bit thin and watery. Intersting? No that much. An IPA? Probably not.

330ml clear bottle, boxed. The beer pours a golden/copper colour with a fluffy white head, about one finger in height. Some light sticky rings of lacing on the glass. Aroma is butterscotchy, herbal, with some light whiskey notes - strange mix but somehow works with me. Flavour is sweet featuring caramel malts, vanilla, wood, background of light oranges. Finishes with light grassy hops and wood. Medium body, medium carbonation. A strange mixture of flavours that ultimately doesn’t come together enough for my liking though certain elements are enjoyable. It doesn’t really remind me of IPA - English or otherwise.

(Bottle, BB Dec 2008) Pours a clear golden body with a small bubbly egg-white head. Aroma of damp musty half-rotten oak, oregano, and light vanilla leading to some bourbon notes. Flavor of vanilla, oak, grass hops, caramel malt, butterscotch, and some apricot.

Prefer the regular Innis and Gunn oaked aged beer over the IPA. Not a teriffic, but all in all not a bad beer. Fruity accents, a little thin as compared to the regular oak aged version.

Bright yellow-orangeish color, with a fluffy white head, yeasty, fruity nose, with a nice vanilla bourbon oakiness accent, with some candied peaches and apricots, with a hint of Grand Marnier liqueur, a note of marmalade sweetness, with a flowery hop orange, citrusy aroma follows through on a medium-bodied palate with a sweet honeyed pale malt, fruity orangey, vanilla oaky character, with some candied peachy, tangerine notes, within a mellow Grand Marnier liquorish mouthfeel, with a faint floral hop fruitiness, leading towards a malty, fruity, warm, leafy hop dryness finish.

Clear golden color, some decent foam. nose is buttery, and something i cant pinpoint. flavor is odd, vanilla as in extract, some pale malts odd woody flavor, not really liking this one.