Mini Review: Innis & Gunn Rum Cask Oak Aged Beer

Great tasters note that one way to better your understanding of a spirit is to try others. We've already tried calvados, cognac, armangnac, tequila, whisky and gin. Here's some of the more unusual spirits and drinks. Mead me halfway on this, woncha?
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Capn Jimbo
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Mini Review: Innis & Gunn Rum Cask Oak Aged Beer

Post by Capn Jimbo »

Innis & Gunn Rum Cask Oak Aged Beer


It's no secret that craft beers have far outstripped any other craft spirit or beverage. There are many hundreds of these, and hundreds of thousands of (legal) home brewers. This all came about surely as the mega-pissers descended to the lowest common denominator, from Bud, to Miller Light, to Michelob Extra Light, and even to MGD64 for yup, just 64 calories. Next up? Watersports?

Fact is that chasing market shares leads to piss poor beer, leading many thousands of home brewers to roll their own, which led to a few micro distillers - some attached to restaurants - and then craft distillers. If the distillation of spirits is schooled in art, beer making ought to be at the Guggenheim. Craft beers quickly became the focal point at the superstores, with the Budmeisters relegated to the Stop-n-Go.


Ergo Innis & Gunn Rum Cask

One day in wandering about Total Wine and ogling the hundreds of craft beer offerings, we fell into conversation with a fellow shopper and inquired as to something interesting. He walked us over to the Innis and Gunn and urged us to try it. When we noted that it was rum cask aged, well, we had to buy it. Was it worth it?

Absolutely.

I&G is neither the least nor most expensive craft offering. They also make whisky barrel aged offerings. Both are complimented by tipplers who enjoy both these spirits as well as a good beer.
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Innis & Gunn Spiced Rum Aged Beer

Post by bearmark »

I had their Spiced Rum Aged offering when I visited Orlando in September. It's flavor is quite potent as I recall. I remember a distinctly sweet toffee and butterscotch taste with a definite oak aged character. While I'm glad that I tried it, it was too sweet with too much added flavor for my taste (I don't think that all of that flavor came from the rum cask :shock:). I thought that I had posted about it here, but apparently not. Thanks for the reminder. :wink:
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Rum References: Flor de Caña 18 (Demeraran), The Scarlet Ibis (Trinidadian), R.L. Seale 10 (Barbadian), Appleton Extra (Jamaican), Ron Abuelo 12 (Cuban), Barbancourt 5-Star (Agricole)
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Capn Jimbo
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Post by Capn Jimbo »

Nice post...


And thanks for the fine pic. Innis & Gunn produce a number of interesting beers:
Per Wiki:

* Original - Innis & Gunn's flagship beer. Aged in oak barrels for 77 days.

* Blonde - "Lightly" aged in oak barrels for 37 days.

* Triple Matured - Limited edition that is triple matured in selected oak barrels for a total of 99 days.

* India Pale Ale - Limited edition aged for 55 days in oak casks containing fresh hops.

* Rum Cask/Finish - Aged in recycled casks previously used for storing and aging rum for 57days. Originally offered as a limited edition but is now regularly available.

* Spiced Rum Finish - Limited edition aged in oak barrels finished with oak chips from Caribbean spiced rum barrels for 47 days.

* Island Cask - Limited edition matured in Islay malt whisky barrels for 99 to 107 days depending on the release.

* Highland Cask - Limited edition aged in recycled malt whisky casks. Maturation time for the beer and the age of the recycled single malt scotch barrels varies from batch to batch, from as little as 49 days (21-year-old) to 69 or 71 days (18-year-old).

* Irish Whiskey Cask - Limited edition stout that is matured in Irish whiskey barrels for 60 days. Innis & Gunn state that the "rare" barrels come from a "famous distillery in Ireland" that is home to "one of the great triple distilled Irish Whisksys", possibly implying that the barrels were previously used by Jameson.

* Winter Beer - Limited edition seasonal brew that changes annually. 2010 was aged for 61 days with "hints of ripe fruit, vanilla and caramel. 2011 was aged for 48 days with "natural notes of orange zest, vanilla and oak". The 2012 bottling is notably different from previous batches as it is a porter, a first for Innis & Gunn, and is called the "Winter Treacle Porter" aged for 39 days and brewed with molasses with "hints of fruit and chocolate".

The various aging in casks from Islay, Ireland, the Highlands, and Amercian oak is intriguing. Unfortunately, the only one using oak chips is the Spiced Rum version, a practice not usually favored. As big an Islay fan as we are, I do believe we'll look for the Islay cask version...


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Special Note: A bit of history as per I&G - the backstory is that Wm. Grant distillers of scotch contracted for quantities of ale with which they intended to pre-season their oak barrels for use in aging Scotch wihiskey. Thousands of gallon were used for this purpose and discarded until - not surprisingly - a couple of the boys decided to tip some of the used beer and were shocked to find that it tasted great. And so, they say, the current Innes & Gunn series of oak aged beers was born.
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Post by NCyankee »

JW Lee makes some very nice cask aged ales, I have had the Lagavulin and Calvados. Not cheap at around $9-10 for a regular 11.2 oz bottle but worth trying.

Harviestoun also has an excellent series called Ola Dubh, aged in different vintages of Highland park casks. These start off a little less at around $7 for the 12 yr but get to $12-15 (IIRC) if you want the 30 or 40 yr casks.
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