Innis & Gunn introduces two bottled products

Innis & Gunn is launching two new 330ml bottled products into retail this winter as permanent range additions.

For the first time in the brewer’s history, Innis & Gunn will be bottling both beers in brown glass manufactured by Ardagh. The reasons being that: for Toasted Oak IPA it will preserve the beer’s intense hop character, and for the Lager it will create distinction from the core brand.

Founder and master brewer of Innis & Gunn, Dougal Sharp, says: “Consumers are often bewildered when they see our beer in clear glass bottles but it wasn’t to go deliberately ‘against the grain’ that led us to that decision. We do regular product testing with leading experts, FlavorActiv, and they have proved conclusively that our beer doesn’t suffer light strike. With Toasted Oak IPA, however, because of the high hop content, brown glass is essential.”

Toasted Oak IPA (5.6%abv) will join the brewer’s core portfolio as Blonde bows out. Presented to the on-trade on draught earlier this year, Innis & Gunn Lager is the first release in Innis & Gunn’s new Craft-Brewed collection of unoaked beers. This is a triple-hopped brew matured for 41 days over toasted American oak heartwood chips, giving it a rich, rounded quality much like an authentic IPA of the 1800s, the brewer says. Innis & Gunn has also added three charges of Styrian Goldings and Goldings hops to really build layer upon layer of zesty aroma and flavour and extract all the floral nuances from the hops.

Dougal Sharp explains: “We add two separate batches of hops during the main brewing process and the third charge is added post fermentation.  The process extracts the maximum flavour from the hops and gives it real depth. The beer is then finished over toasted oak which lends the rich vanilla tones that our beers are known for.”

Innis & Gunn Lager is an unoaked Helles-style lager that uses native British ingredients with some Innis & Gunn flourishes.  The recipe uniquely features Naked Golden Oats for a subtle nuttiness and rich mouthfeel, lager malt and large quantities of Super Styrian and Styrian Goldings hops for bitterness and aroma.  The result is a well-balanced lager with a clean, crisp finish.
 
Dougal commented: “Innis & Gunn beers aren’t light sessionable beers so I wanted to give our consumers a refreshing but flavourful lager that would deliver a really rewarding taste experience in the same way they’ve grown to expect through our oak-aged beers.”
 

18 October 2013 - Felicity Murray The Drinks Report, editor