The Beer Meister / He's Back!

Innis & Gunn Bourbon Aged Dark Ale 
Edinburg, Scotland /ABV 7.4%

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​After taking some time away from writing about beer, I have decided to come back with this blog entitled The Beer Meister (Of course, what else would it be). Like my articles in the local newspaper, I am not going to write about the everyday beers like Coors, Miller and Bud. What I am going to do is to give you an everyday Joe's take on all different types and styles of beer in the hope of broadening your beer horizons. I will use what I call the S.A.T.'s of beer, Sight, Aroma and Taste. I will always give you my honest opinion.  I will also visit bars and restaurants to review beer and their overall selection. Whether you agree or disagree with me, I want to hear from you at thebeermeister359@gmail.com. I will also throw in some history on the beer, a personal story or two as well as what type of food to pair up with your beer. This blog is in its infancy and I plan on it growing as time goes on. I will be posting old reviews that ran in the newspaper and hopefully have a podcast in the very near future. Enough of the serious stuff, it's time to talk about beer.

Spring can be a funny time here in Northeastern Pennsylvania. One day you have snow and temps in the 20's while the next day is sunny and in the 50's. Yesterday, was one of those really nice days. This pleasant weather gave me the opportunity to get outside to do some spring clean-up of the front and back yard. I did some raking and sweeping of the winter junk that was left and actually filled 2 bags of yard waste.  After getting everything done that I wanted to (how about that for a change), I headed to the shower to clean off all of the winter filth. Of course, next in line would be a few cold beers on the patio and possibly a fire.  Before I hit the shower, I thought to myself, " You better go check on the beer supply". Good thing I did, because I was very low and that meant a trip to Leo Beer on Welles St. in Forty Fort . By the way, Leo has a great selection of beer at very reasonable prices. You can also buy 12 and 6 packs. So off I went to Leo Beer where I found some very interesting beer.  The one beer that really peeked my interest was Innis & Gunn Bourbon Aged Dark Ale. It seems that the latest beer craze involves the aging of beer in or on oak from Bourbon barrels. I like beer and I like bourbon, how could it be bad? When I got home, I placed the beer in the fridge, hit the shower and then lit a fire on the patio. Now it is time to relax.

THE REVIEW

SIGHT:   With the wind blowing and the fire blazing, I poured my Innis & Gunn (in the kitchen) and what I saw really got me excited. This beer poured very dark brown, almost black in color along with a healthy beige head of about 3/4 of an inch thick and a hefty dose of carbonation.  It poured just like what we would call, "A TV Beer" .  This was a good looking beer with a long lasting head.

Aroma:   Since this beer looked so good, I was very intrigued to see what it smelled like. In many cases, the aroma of a beer will give you a preview of how it tastes.  As I brought the glass up to my nose, I got very subtle hints of smokiness.  No, I did not pour the beer outside by the fire.  I also got slight notes of a bread like sweetness and of course bourbon.  No one aroma stood out over the other and all were very subtle.

Taste:   As I took my first sip (in my kitchen), I got a smokey flavor up front followed by hints of possibly caramel followed by earthen tones and ending with a back splash of bourbon. Very interesting.  Like the aroma, none of the flavors overpowered the other but worked well together.  This beer went down easy and finished smooth.

Overall, I really liked this beer. It was a perfect fit for a cool day and a late afternoon fire after a long day of working around the house. It had good flavor and went down easily. I would recommend pairing this Dark Ale with a steak on the grill or roast beef. Don't forget the baked potatoes and asparagus. If you would like to try the Innis & Gunn Bourbon Aged Dark Ale, take a run over to Leo Beer on Welles Street in Forty Fort. You can actually get a 4 pack to test it out. If you want to find out about the other beers brewed in Scotland by Innis & Gunn , you can go to their web site at www.innisandgunn.com.

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5= Outstanding

4= Very Good

3= Good

2=Fair

1=Skunk

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