Can beers be good finishers?

Will beers stored in casks previously used to mature another drink become increasingly popular, or is it just a fad? Adrian Tierney Jones reports

In the summer of 2003, former Caledonian Brewery head brewer Dougal Sharp unveiled Innis & Gunn’s Woodaged Beer.

This was a stunningly flavoured 6.6% beer that had spent the first 37 days of its post-fermentation existence slumbering away in American white oak barrels. After that, all the beer in the barrels had been shipped into a marrying tun, to allow a further mellowing of the flavour.

It is often said that whisky and beer are close cousins, but this was a case of marrying within the family. What would be the consequences?

Rest assured, there were no illeffects from this union. Burnished gold with a hint of amber in colour, the beer had a grown-up nose of vanilla residing alongside the oaky, buttery scents we normally associate with a good white Burgundy or even Chardonnay.

Somewhere in the background hovered the aroma of that oldfashioned, once popular gentleman’s accessory the tobacco box. The palate was full with plenty of oak, vanilla and butter toffee, before a creamy finish with hints of whisky warmth took over.

On first sip it was a memorable ale and went on to win awards and supermarket contracts.

The original idea first emerged when William Grant & Sons was buying beer from a Scottish brewer to assist in the production of Grant’s Ale Cask Reserve Scotch Whisky.

The beer had been brewed to a special formula and used to flavour the whisky barrels, but no one knew what it would taste like when it had been in cask for a month. As soon as Dougal Sharp tried it .....

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By Andrew Tierney-Jones

Section : Beer Trends

Page number : 47