Innis & Gunn's Scottish Porter

Brewery: Innis & Gunn
ABV: 7.4%
IBUs: Not given

Innis & Gunn has graced this website before with some of its deceptively simple and wonderful beers. Due to the relatively low price and high quality of their standard drinks, they've become a staple in my home. When I saw this one in a store, I grabbed it for my partner, as this brewery is one of our shared favorites and porters are her preferred style.

While this Scottish porter is not at all like the darker, thicker porters we're used to drinking, the sweetness of molasses definitely shows at moments here. Additionally, the body is thinner and lighter in color than your average heavy porter, which makes for an easier drinking experience, but may not impress people looking for dark and heavy beers. The oak aging shows a bit with a light whiskey characteristic on the aftertaste, although I'm not sure if there was whiskey in the barrels before this beer was aged in them.



We enjoyed this slightly sweet and slightly tart beer while watching classic Dark Tranquillity videos. While their music is slightly edgy, the accessibility and harmony of their music pairs nicely with this beer which might impress beer geeks and beer newcomers alike.

Beer Review: Innis & Gunn's "Rum Cask Oak Aged Beer"

This beer is a sneaky one. The bottle is unassuming and modest. There's no flashy packaging, no absurdly high price tag. It's not made by a brewery actively riding the current craft beer craze with a hundred different drinks on the market. It's a simple and attractive bottle, explaining what the beer is and little else. That should be all this beer needs to sell itself, but it probably isn't. I was hesitant at first, but appearances are often deceiving, so I brought home this modest little monster from Innis & Gunn and I'm currently a very happy camper.

The beer pours a pretty average head, which dissipates relatively quickly. Even the first sniff of this beer confused me. The aroma was almost reminiscent of many standard pilsner type beers, which I tend to find unexciting. While there's a certain faint, musty sweetness to the nose, it's pretty mellow and tame, which makes the flavor such a huge and wonderful surprise. My first sip was an oak-filled flavor explosion. So was my second. This beer in its simple bottle with its mild aroma has some of the biggest and most surprising flavor of any beer I've tried lately. The actual beer is full of caramel, raisin, and other sweetly intoxicating tastes. With each sip I feel like I'm peeling back another layer of this beer's medley of tastes. It's got a fair kick (7.4%)  that you can definitely taste, and it's a malty, rich, and wonderful experience.

What I expected to be a rather standard beer experience is quickly making its way onto my "will buy again" list. I encourage you to do the same. While many of the currently popular breweries are making bizarre and exciting beers with all sorts of peculiar names and labels, this is an incredibly well made beer with enough depth to dominate even the fiercest competition. If you find a bottle, grab it. I've had its non-rum cask cousin, which was quite good, but I definitely recommend spending the extra dollar or two for this gem.