Brewery: Innis & Gunn
Location: Edinburgh, Scotland
ABV: 6.0% / 6.6%
Version: Bottled (both)
Source: Courtesy of Innis & Gunn

We’ve actually covered both these beers on Blog o’ Beer before now – Joe was full of praise for the Original Oak Aged and Ed enjoyed the Blonde (although he preferred for the Oak Aged) – but I wanted to re-visit them both myself, for a couple of reasons. First off, so I can send a thank you shout out to Nicky at R&R Teamwork, who sent these bottles along on Innis & Gunn’s behalf. And secondly because it afforded me the opportunity to re-visit the Oak Aged and provide a more direct comparison of the two in the process.

I tried the Blonde first, it being the lighter of the two. I have to say, it was a lot richer than I expected it would be. It had a definite hop-based character but with a lingering malty sweetness as well. The golden colour and faintly zesty aroma was extremely pleasant as well: all in all an extremely satisfying, well-rounded beer that I thoroughly enjoyed.

The Oak Aged followed and to my surprise – especially considering Ed’s comparison and taking Joe’s rapturous praise into account – I actually found this one to be slightly less flavourful than the Blonde. It was noticeably smoother and richer, certainly, with a more pronounced sweetness and a more enticing aroma, but still… the Blonde just had a bit more bite to it, a bit more going on in the taste-bud-tingling department.

You know, I have to say – and this surprised me, given my usual preferences for darker, stronger, sweeter beers – that I actually preferred the Blonde to the Oak Aged. Perhaps the longer maturation process in the case of the Oak Aged ends up knocking off the Blonde’s remaining edges? If so, it’s almost a shame; the Oak Aged’s velvet mouth-feel with the Blonde’s sharper punch would make for a hell of a combination.

Don’t get me wrong, though. Both are extremely fine beers. I’d happily drink either one of them again and no doubt will before too long. In fact, perhaps I should do so sooner rather than later while, just to make sure this comparative tasting experiment didn’t generate a fluke result? Sounds like a plan to me.

Brewery: Innis & Gunn
Location: PO Box 17246, Edinburgh, Scotland EH11 1YR
ABV: 6.6%
Version: 330ml bottle

First impressions – why is this bottle so damned small? Real ale drinkers are not used to 330ml bottles – those are for lager drinkers and we feel cheated by such paltry sizes. But the glowing, golden colour of the beer draws my eye to the shelves and I find myself picking it up anyway (well that and a natural desire to support a – for me – local brewery). Glance at the back and realise it is a whopping 6.6% alcohol. Ah, smaller bottle size explained then – that’s basically like some of the Belgian beers and those too are usually offered in smaller bottles for the very good reason the more normal 500 or 550ml bottles would more than likely get you blootered before you had time to appreciate the taste.

And like some of those Belgian beers the Innis & Gunn is meant to be appreciated and that means this is a beer to be drunk slowly, not just to mitigate the strength of the alcoholic content but so you can savour it (yes, I know, all proper beers are meant to be savoured for taste and aroma, but the strong ones demand slow sipping so you may as well use the time to fully appreciate the craftsmanship which went into it). It’s a beautiful looking ale to begin with – the beer spent 30 days maturing in oak barrels, which gives it this splendid, golden colour, like warm amber. Most beers I’ve had with this hue usually are honey-coloured partly because they are in fact honey beers; not so here, as, like a fine single malt, this has picked up its distinctive colouring partly from lying in a particular barrel (an unusual maturing process for ale). I like the result and I also appreciate the extra layer of effort that this method entails, it inclines me rather positively towards it before I’ve even had a mouthful.

There’s a lovely aroma to this Edinburgh beer; it has the scent of an IPA which most ale drinkers will recognise, but the aroma is somehow softer, with hints of toffee (for once the blurb on the back is right, I could indeed smell and taste a pleasant toffee aspect to it). The drink itself is effortlessly smooth; in fact its smoother than a freshly shaved and waxed baby’s bottom. It slips over the tongue and massages the taste buds as it goes. Unusually for a real ale the bottle recommends it is served ‘well chilled’. Now we all know you can cool real ales if you want, but usually they are served at a warmer temperature than lagers. Strangely, despite being chilled, the initial taste is a warm feeling on the tongue as the golden hue would seem to promise.

Smooth and warm and fresh, the sort of drink you let linger in your mouth for a moment to delight your taste buds, again like appreciating a fine single malt. Lovely aftertaste too – you can still taste a lingering touch of it long after swallowing a mouthful and it is most pleasant. Despite the strength it comes across as very light – almost like an IPA – and I think you’d have to be careful not to be mislead by that lightness because at 6.6% drinking too much of this in an evening would leave you in that embarrassing situation Billy Connolly once called “getting drunk from the neck down”, where your head feels fine, the drink tastes lovely, you keep downing it and all seems fine until you try to stand to go to the loo and find no part of your body below your neck still works…

But that’s not a criticism – its rare for an ale this strong to look and feel so smooth and light. This is one to set yourself some quality time to enjoy – sit back, stick your feet up, pour yourself one and slowly savour it. It is exceptionally smooth, soft on the palate, made to be slowly sipped and enjoyed, as light to taste as the colour suggests yet not too sweet. And since it works so well chilled I think it may well be a great beer for real ale guzzlers like myself who, on very hot days (admittedly a rarity this summer) want the taste of a real beer but need something chilled and have to face that agonising choice of a proper beer (but warm to drink on a hot day) or resorting to chilled lagers or ciders. Now we don’t need to make the choice – keep a couple of these in the fridge, come home after a hot, busy day, pour one and let it wash away the stress…