So what’s in the pack?
Limited Edition: Innis & Gunn IPA (7.7% ABV) (NEW)
Matured for 55 days. Rich with spice, herbal hops, and malt intensity, with subtle vanilla and citrus notes on the finish.
Limited Edition: Rum Cask (7.4%ABV)
Matured for 107 days. Soft fruits and light spice finishing in a mellow sweetness.
The Innis & Gunn Original Oak-Aged Beer (6.6%ABV)
Matured for 77 days. Distinctive warm and moreish vanilla, caramel and citrus flavours.
The cardboard box is nicely printed with a traditional feel and inside there is a card detailing ‘The Perfect Pour’. The three bottles are made of clear glass showing off the differing shades of the beer and the branded tulip glass is quality.
So what is oak aged beer?
I’ve had the Original Oak-Aged Beer before and enjoyed it, but I didn’t really know what the process entailed …
Apparently in 2002 a Scotch Whisky distillery needed a beer to sit in oak barrels for 30 days to season the oak with a sweet malty character before discarding the beer to make way for the Whisky to age in the barrel. They used to just pour the beer away as it had done its job, but one day the distillery manager tasted it and informed Innis & Gunn on how amazing it tasted – and that is how a whole new style of beer was born.
The deal
I went to Sainsbury’s today to see if I could find the pack and was disheartened when it was nowhere to be seen in the real ale section. I was just about to leave when I spotted a Christmas gift section with glassware packs from Guinness, Jack Daniels, Peroni and … Innis & Gunn.
Amazingly ALL the Christmas gift packs were on a 3 for 2 offer, so for the price of two gift packs at £8 each, you can have 9 bottles of 330ml ale and 3 branded tulip glasses, now even with my dodgy math that works out to a very reasonable £1.77 per bottle with the glasses thrown in for luck!
I’m really looking forward to trying their New IPA and Rum Cask Beer and will let you know what I think of them here as soon as I crack them open.
About Richard Mackney