Innis & Gunn

I enjoy beer. I’m not a huge drinker of beer, but I do love the occasional bottle or two of beer. I don’t think I’ve ever bought a two-four of beer. I’ll pop by the liquor locker once in a while and buy a few cans or bottles, usually of something I haven’t tried before, or something non-commercial. And I don’t ever get hammered on beer. Don’t ever get hammered on anything, really.

One beer that had absolutely blown my socks off, one that I’ve been drinking for a few years now, is Innis & Gunn. I hadn’t had any for a while, and drinking it again reminded me that I must rave about this deeeelicious brew. Bit more expensive than your average bland beer, but so worth it.

What makes I & G so special is that it is aged for 77 days in oak barrels, that have previously been used to mature bourbon. The taste is just out of this world. Another variant is aged in barrels that previously matured rum.

I like the stuff so much that I keep hassling them to put out some promotional schwag. I often make cracks about people whose entire wardrobe consists of T-shirts they got as freebies in cases of swill from Labatts or Molson (or any number of other mediocre beer makers) but I would happily wear an Innis & Gunn shirt. And that is saying something.

Another indicator of how much I like this beer is that a few years back the liquor monopoly (don’t get me started on it) in this province threatened to go on strike. The warning was short, and the night before it was destined to begin, I raced down to my nearest LCBO and bought up the last 9 bottles they had. They never did go on strike, but I didn’t regret my impulse buy. I can’t imagine that there is any other beer I would get that worked up about.

I can’t really claim to be any sort of beer expert, but folks that are far more knowledgeable than me, have very complimentary things to say about it.It wins awards left, right and center.

Its distribution isn’t really widespread, but hopefully that will change as word spreads. Even if you have to mail order it, even if you’re not a huge fan of beer, this is one I strongly recommend people try.