The story of last night was two of Innis & Gunn‘s oak aged beers. The first one was part of Morrisons’ four for £5.50 deal, so I took the label proclaiming it as an expertly crafted beer with a pinch of salt. Later in the evening I was given a limited edition bottle from a year or two ago, which came in a box – the kind of thing you see whisky packaged in.

Now as I said, I wasn’t really expecting much. They were 6% and 7% so it’s fortunate they come in 330ml bottles or you’d end up banjoed in two hours. The taste though is something else. I really don’t enjoy strong beers normally as the taste of alcohol just overpowers everything else. Innis & Gunn beers avoid that with the oak flavours masking the alcohol almost completely. I couldn’t tell too much difference between the two I tried, but I’d definitely give them a go again.

The one downside of the night was a schoolboy error on my part, as I tried the very flavoursome Innis & Gunn beers one after the other and promptly destroyed my taste buds for the rest of the night. The Harvest Pale didn’t taste a patch on the first time I tried it but I’m sure it was just because my tongue had been through an alcoholic air raid. The Piddle Ale was terrible – a wishy-washy, flavourless concoction that I was bored of after a few mouthfuls. Never again.

The Whitstable Bay was pretty good and the Old Hooky had the usual caramel flavours. All in all, not a bad mix, the highlight being the Innis & Gunn beers. Just make sure you drink them at the end of the night while your taste buds still function.

Beers · Innis & Gunn

Tonight is my cousin Rob’s 21st birthday party. Rob is a CID (Chav In Denial) and drinks lager and any kind of spirit over 40%, preferably on fire. Rob is a sound bloke though and it is my ultimate ambition in life to convert him to real ale. His dad drinks the stuff by the gallon so it’s feasible.

#Gordon Brown...

Tonight I’ve picked up a few bottles from Morrisons to take round and I’ve got another Castle Rock Harvest Pale, the beer I recently declared my favourite ever. I’m left with that conundrum now of when to drink it – near the start so I appreciate it most, or near the end to look forward to? Do I pass it round to try to convert others to the cause, or keep it all to myself? Not easy questions when you’ve been lured in by the sweet taste and end up injecting pale ale into your veins to get an even better hit.

I’ve also picked up one of Innis & Gunn‘s oak-aged beers, which I’m really not convinced I’ll like. I’m a very recent convert to the odd whisky or brandy and hot, but only very rarely, and I’m certainly not sure what a beer with those kind of flavours might do to me. To balance that out I’ve got a nice Shepherd Neame Whitstable Bay, an organic beer and one approved for vegetarians – it really is fortunate that my variety of vegetarianism isn’t so strict as to preclude me from the majority of ales around today.

Finishing off the list are a bottle of Piddle Ale (the brewery eludes me at the moment) which was on offer for £1 and finally an old favourite, Hook Norton Old Hooky. As a list goes I’m pretty happy with that one and with the strengths they are I’m confident that with a cup of tea before bed I’ll even wake up with a clear head! Match report to follow tomorrow, which will invariably be me raving about Harvest Pale at great length again.

Beers · Castle Rock · Harvest Pale · Hook Norton · Innis & Gunn · Morrisons · Old Hooky · Piddle Ale · Shepherd Neame · Whitstable Bay