Innis & Gunn Oak Aged Beer (Bottle)

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

Pours a dark copper colour with off-white head. Aroma is at first very corn-ish, but turns into caramel as the beer warms. Not very pleasant at first, and a little artificial later. The taste is okay, and the mouthfeel wonderful - very viscuous. Sadly, the aftertaste is lacking.

This is not a complex beer like oaked arrogant B, its wood and some whiskey. But its a worthwhile changeup. It looks and smells whisky. SIgnificant sediment at end, yet freshly imported, that was not a put off. A bit of sourness in mid-sip, soapiness in finish.

Clear bottle. Poured a medium amber color with an averaged sized off white head. Aromas of vanilla, marshmallows, caramel, light oak and stale gummi bears. Tastes of vanilla, light wood, toasted malts, and caramel. Thinner body.

The idea of this is actually to age some beer in casks which will subsequently be used to age a ’beer cask’ whisky expression. Aroma contains honey, vanilla cinnamon and (okay..) oak, but is predominantly malty. Over caramelly malt taste with thin mouthfeel. Not unpleasant and an unusual flavour, but I suspect it could be done much better with experimentation (sherry/port casks, casks which have had, rather than will have, whisky in them), rather than marketing to us a by-product of the whisky business.

Oak and honey stick out in the aroma. Clear orange body with thin white head. Vanilla, Oak and whisky stand out in falvour. Hints of sweetness aswell. Bit of a bite going down with a nice warm finish. Pretty good beer but too much of this would make me sick.

Bottle at home. Dark amber with a white head, almost diminishing. Aroma moderate malty (druity, oak) and hoppy. Flavor moderate sweet and bitter. Medium body, normal carbonated. Very special and delicate.

[Tasted at the bloodparty with the bloody bloodbros.] Lars’ bottle from Inverness/Elgin gave me joy tasting this whisky oak aged brew. Notes of oak and whisky, but it needs complexity to be an ESB. A bottle to be dranked a lot if you can stand the whiskynotes.

A 77 day brewing process involving 30 days in oak barrels and then 47 days in a marrying tun sounds wonderful, but the beers then pasteurised, filtered and sold in clear glass bottles, Hmmm!. Age old brewing techniques meet modern mass market stupidity. Inane, to say the least! Poured into a stumpy tulip, cool and not cold. Clear auburn orange body with whirlpool-like bubbles raising to a single island of white froth in the centre of the glass. Strong oak and whisky malt nose with a little vanilla, caramel and an odd hint of peppermint; not overly inviting but intriguing none-the-less. In the mouth it initially reminded me of a watered down single-malt whisky, with strong spicy oak barrel flavours dominating its otherwise one-dimensional palate. Medium bodied and relatively smooth, a little vanilla and nutty caramel dessert flavours came through, keeping it sweet for the length. Quite weak in the finish with a little lingering wood flavours reminding me of the palate. Overall, it wasn’t too bad, a nice, very slow sipper that went down smooth. Unusual!!! (33cL, BBE 03/06)