Blurring the boundaries
Ales and porters finished in oak casks are set to take beer in an exciting new direction. Dominic Roskrow reports
The news that wine had overtaken beer as the most popular drink of choice in Britain will have left many of us crying into our pint pots. But if the grain is at war with the grape then the grain has started the fightback – and it’s turning to its big brother to help it do so.
A clear trend towards special beers matured for a short period in an oak cask previously containing malt whisky has taken a significant and exciting step forward with the launch of Ola Dubh – a range of beers not just matured in a whisky cask, but marketed by the fact that they were finished off in a cask that previously contained a malt from a specific distillery and of specific age.
Meanwhile the sector’s most successful and to date best known cask-finished ale, Innis & Gunn, is set to raise its public profile even further. The company has been bought out by its management and is planning a major marketing blitz and a number of new products.
Unsurprisingly the new wave of beers is being spearheaded from Scotland and it represents a major turnaround for a country that 15 years ago had few beers of any quality and is now setting the pace in the premium end of the British beer market.
Innis & Gunn was originally launched five years ago and is the result of a happy accident.
Malt whisky is matured in oak casks that have normally previously been used for sherry or bourbon production. But in recent years it has become common to ‘finish’ a malt in a special cask that has been used for something else – of.....
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By Dominic Roskrow
Section : Beer Trends
Page number : 30
