Not so long ago, I enjoyed a mug of Innis & Gunn Kith and Kin Scottish Stout aged in Teeling Irish Whiskey Barrels at my local Taco Mac. I liked the beer well enough, but remarked that it didn’t quite have the Irish whiskey notes I was looking for. Fast forward a bit to June of 2017. I popped another Innis & Gunn barrel aged beer, this time Innis & Gunn Bourbon Aged Stout. No missing whiskery here, my friends.
Innis & Gunn describe this as Stout Aged Over Bourbon Oak Chips, so this is not really barrel aged. I ran it through my Fizzics draft pour system to produce a thick fluffy head and really bring out the aromas. It’s also a red stout, made with rye and barley malts.
From the box the bottle was packaged in:
This Innis & Gunn red stout has been brewed using our own malt, rye, crystal malt, roasted barley and wheat. Whitbread Golding hops were used to complement the nutty, biscuit character of the malts with their soft hop bitterness and dried fruit flavor.
We left the brew for days to mature over Bourbon-infused oak, which gives it a mellow vanilla flavor and a warming hit of Bourbon.
Red stouts are unusual these days but are produced in a similar way to darker stouts, only the malts are roasted more lightly which gives the final brew a lighter fruitier character and of course its signature colour.
Innis and Gunn Bourbon Aged Stout has an alcohol content of 7.4% by volume and I paid $9.99 for the 20.3 ounce bottle at Stout’s Growlers in early 2015 and have been aging it since. The box is stamped best before June 2015, and as you can tell I drank it two tears beyond that.
Innis and Gunn Bourbon Aged Stout pours to a ruby-tinged brownish black color with a thick creamy tan head and a divine nose of rich raisin and soft toasted oak. Taking a sip, the beer changes course: there’s soft chocolate chip cookie and big woody oak, spicy rye with boozy bourbon and dark fruity raisin. It’s amazingly woody throughout, with soft notes of treacle and crystal malt rock candy notes, all topped off with a slightly sweet finish.
As Innis & Gunn say, red stout is a lighter, softer stout, more like brown ale to me, but oh so wonderful in its complexity. Just a delicious beer alla round, one of the best I have had so far this year.
And remember, try a new beer today, and drink outside the box.
*Pricing data accurate at time of review or latest update. For reference only, based on actual price paid by reviewer.
(B)=Bottled
(D)=Draft