Innis & Gunn

The Scottish brewery Innis & Gunn is known far beyond the borders of Great Britain for its barrel-aged beer. But the brewers at Innis & Gunn can do so much more than that, their lager is Scotland's most popular craft lager and their Blood Red Sky is simply stunning. And it's not just the Scots who like the beers, we're also excited about the creations from the Innis & Gunn Brewery! Plus, there's such a strange story behind the brewery's beer that you just have to like it.

Knight in hoppy armor

It is thanks to a happy coincidence that Innis & Gunn are now at the forefront of barrel-aged beers. In 2002, a well-known whiskey distiller needed help: In order to develop an innovative type of whiskey, the whiskey distiller needed flavored oak barrels. These should get the full-bodied malt character of a beer in order to then pass this on to the whiskey, which matures in it over several years. All previous attempts to get the beer flavor into the whiskey failed. Expert Dougal Gunn Sharp decided to actively support the desperate whiskey maker and with combined expertise a recipe was developed, beer was brewed and finally filled into the appropriate barrels. The barrels had 30 days to take on the characteristic beer aroma before the beer was drained again and the whiskey was poured in. This time the experiment was a success and the whiskey distiller's efforts were rewarded with an excellent whiskey.

So far so good.

Cheers to curiosity!

The really amazing part of the story is now coming. Around ten months after the cooperation with the whiskey distillery, an unexpected call came. The distillery workers didn't throw away the beer after it was stored in the oak barrels, but instead enjoyed a sip or two of it. And they were thrilled! In an almost symbiotic process, not only had the oak barrels taken on the beer flavor, the beer had also taken on the characteristic aroma of the oak barrels. The end result was an incredibly tasty beer with a very special taste that Dougal Gunn Sharp didn't want to withhold from the world. This was the birth of Innis & Gunn and one of the greatest coincidences in the history of beer.

Who knows what would have happened if the distillery workers hadn't been so curious? We drink an original to the shock and are happy that chance was kind to us!