Innis & Gunn Original

by Nathaniel Tapley
(Beer Delegate, London, UK)

Innis and Gunn Original: Nathaniel Tapley in utterly positive review shocker!

It used to be you had to get Innis & Gunn Original in teensy little bottles, enough for everyone to have a sip, opine that it was nice, and to move on to something else for the serious drinking. No longer.

Slightly repackaged - the bottle no longer mentions that it is whisky casks that are used to mature the beer for 77 days, and what used to be Innis & Gunn Oak Aged Beer is now Innis & Gunn Original - it is now available in bottles of a very decent size. Big enough for everyone to swig for as long as they want. Which is a good thing.

I was initially suspicious of an oak-aged beer. Now, I would leave it alone in the house with my precious objects. What I thought was a gimmick gives the beer real strength and depth, and a wonderful variety of flavours.

It manages to be sweet, and yet refreshing; strong and yet just what you'd like to reach for to quench a thirst. It is warm, chocolatey and absolutely delicious. I am going to drink some more as I finish writing this. That's how much I liked it.

There are overtones of malt and wood, and the nose puts you in mind of freshly ground coffee. It tastes more like a draught beer than any other bottled beer I've tasted. It claims to be the Supreme Champion 2004 in the International Beer Competition, and I don't doubt that it put the competition to shame.

It is the sort of treat that everyone deserves every day. And as it now lives in big bottles and weighs in at 6.6% ABV, is it any wonder I'm so effusive?

But hold! According to their website they also make a beer matured in rum barrels. No time to write more, must... get... rummy... beer!