Brewery: Innis & Gunn
ABV: 6.0%
Location: Edinburgh, Scotland
Version: 330ml bottle

The other day there I was, drifting around Tesco picking up a few essentials, when I just happened to find myself at the beer shelves. I usually know what to expect to find, my local Superstore branch may have a reasonably good selection but new additions are not that common. So I was surprised to find this one, the Innis & Gunn Blonde. Being a fan of their Original Oak Aged Beer, covered so eloquently by Joe here, I quickly stuck a bottle in the trolley.

So what does this have to offer? First off, it’s described as lightly oak aged but still matured for 37 days prior to bottling. The alcohol content is slightly lower, 6% compared to 6.6%. And it’s still recommended “serve well chilled”. So basically it’s a lighter version of the original. All the characteristic Innis & Gunn elements are there, just lighter with a more hop-driven flavour.

The colour is a paler gold more in keeping with its blonde moniker, and the vanilla and oak is less pronounced in the aroma. The flavour also has less of these vanilla and oak elements, allowing the fruity hop flavours to dominate. This hoppiness also reduces the sweetness, but I felt it weakened the overall flavour. The fruity bitter aspect just doesn’t seem to sit well with the warm, smooth oaky elements that makes the original so wonderful; too contrasting. Overall, worth checking out but I’ll be sticking with the original formula.

Now to track down some of their new Rum Cask Finish.