{"id":20,"date":"2007-09-02T20:15:52","date_gmt":"2007-09-03T02:15:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.boozecouncil.org\/blotto\/?p=20"},"modified":"2007-11-20T11:43:32","modified_gmt":"2007-11-20T17:43:32","slug":"innis-gunn-oak-aged-beer-an-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.boozecouncil.org\/?p=20","title":{"rendered":"Innis & Gunn Oak Aged Beer, an review"},"content":{"rendered":"

Innis & Gunn Oak Aged Beer<\/strong>
\n6.6% ABV, 11.2UK fl oz. (326.72 ml), $4.99\/bottle
\nBodine Value: 4.32
\nTotal consumption time: approx. 1\/2 hour<\/p>\n

So-called “specialty” beers are a bit of a gamble. Does microbrew status, foreign provenance and gimmicky aging style equate to a delicious, worthwhile experience? Are they worth the money<\/em>?<\/p>\n

Today at my local Pakistani-run bodega I discovered nestled amongst the hoard of beer they’d laid in for the Labor Day Weekend an unexpected thing: a specialty beer of the type I could normally find locally only at the beer distributor several blocks down the road. That beer was Innis & Gunn Oak Aged Beer, from the isles of furthest Scotland.<\/p>\n

The label copy reads:<\/p>\n

Edinburgh Ale aged in oak barrels traditionally used to mature malt whisky. For 30 days this honey-hued beer sleeps in hand selected oak barrels, locked inside a bonded warehouse, gradually assimilating the subtle flavours that reside in the wood. Barrels are then emptied and maturation continues for a further 47 days in a marrying tun where these natural flavors infuse and fall into perfect balance. This 77-day process is unique and produces a delicious, refreshing beer: Aromas of vanilla and toffee, hints of citrus, with a malty, lightly oaked, palate. Deftly balanced and light in texture, soothing and warming in the finish.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Very well, then! I parted with five of my favorite dollars and took the beer home to sample.<\/p>\n

After letting the bottle warm to near-room temperature I decanted it, carefully, into a standard pint glass for drinking. Little to no head was produced by my pour, and my nose detected a fairly typical ale-like aroma from the glass. It was slightly sharp, perhaps due to the 6.6 ABV, and there was something sweet about it which my preconditioned brain chalked up to honey.<\/p>\n

The beer has a rich amber color that sets the drinker up for a superlative experience.
\nHow, then, does it taste?<\/p>\n

Honestly, it’s not terribly remarkable. The flavor is a fairly standard british ale with barely detectable hoppiness, a sweet maltiness (with honeyish overtones) and a creamy mouthfeel. Fizz level is below that of, say, Bass Pale Ale and will give your sinus a break if you’ve been overwhelmed by some fizzier brews. Perhaps a slight mocha note. The slightly high ABV (compared to most ales) doesn’t seem to factor into the taste though I felt myself becoming somewhat heady after finishing approximately half the bottle. The first and only necessary burp happened about the same time. I’m not entirely sure what a “lightly oaked” palate is, but there was not direct correlation in my mind with whiskey flavor.<\/p>\n

That said, Innis & Gunn Oak Aged Beer would make an excellent companion to a tumbler of your favorite uisge-beatha<\/abbr><\/em>.<\/p>\n

I can’t say that this specialty beer is necessarily worth the asking price. But it’s both tasty and subtle, which is nothing to sneeze at especially after a round of more forceful brews. I would be unlikely to pick up another bottle, but would also be unlikely to refuse one offered to me. A better use of your money may very well be to invest in a bottle of Old Speckled Hen.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Innis & Gunn Oak Aged Beer 6.6% ABV, 11.2UK fl oz. (326.72 ml), $4.99\/bottle Bodine Value: 4.32 Total consumption time: approx. 1\/2 hour So-called “specialty” beers are a bit of a gamble. Does microbrew status, foreign provenance and gimmicky aging style equate to a delicious, worthwhile experience? Are they worth the money? Today at my […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,3,16],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-20","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-beer","category-brown-liquor","category-whiskey"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.boozecouncil.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.boozecouncil.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.boozecouncil.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.boozecouncil.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.boozecouncil.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=20"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.boozecouncil.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.boozecouncil.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=20"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.boozecouncil.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=20"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.boozecouncil.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=20"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}