Limited Edition 2005
Innis & Gunn

Limited Edition 2005Limited Edition 2005
Beer Geek Stats
From:
Innis & Gunn
 
Scotland, United Kingdom
Style:
English Pale Ale
ABV:
7.2%
Score:
Needs more ratings
Avg:
4.4 | pDev: 5.23%
Reviews:
6
Ratings:
6
Status:
Retired
Rated:
Jul 31, 2007
Added:
Oct 27, 2005
Wants:
  0
Gots:
  0
No description / notes.
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Recent ratings and reviews.
Photo of bark
Reviewed by bark from Sweden

4.65/5  rDev +5.7%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 5
The colour is deep red-brown; the low off white head sinks quickly into a thick ring. No lacing. The liquid is clear.

The peculiar smell is quite strong. Alcohol, red strong wine, lots of bitterness, old wooden furniture, resin. Overall, a cask matured flavour.

The taste is … oh… So smooth and balanced, but at the time very complex! Some alcohol that fades quickly, lots of wooden and cask matured flavours. Oak, resin, sweet notes of caramel and toffee, lots of malt. Some wild berries like cranberries, raspberries and cowberries. The aftertaste got a slowly growing dry bitterness with a slowly descending sweet flavour and some very mild sour notes, mixed fruits and berries. The finish is dry.

The carbonation is mild, but not stale at all. The few bubbles are small; the liquid is smooth and a little thick.

An even more complex oak aged beer then the ordinary Innis & Gunn; I am impressed.
Jul 31, 2007
Photo of TheLongBeachBum
Reviewed by TheLongBeachBum from California

4.47/5  rDev +1.6%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5
Presentation: 330ml clear glass bottle with embossed features. Having had the I&G 1st Anniversary 2004 Limited Edition, the packaging looks familiar, but the 2005 has a dark blue color to it, rather than the red of last years. Tall dark blue box has a cream colored rectangle on the frontage surrounded by a red line with additional nice looking gold lettering. Listed as, “Innis & Gunn Oak Aged Beer Limited Edition 2005”. A circular stamp at the base states that this is a “Limited Edition 2005 Aged 154 Days” with five gold stars running across it. Bottom of the Box says Best Before November 2006.

Some statistics from the Box:
“This year we have chosen to oak-mature a style of beer that is quite different. It is darker, with a chocolate character from the roasted barley in the recipe, and aromatic because we have selected Slovenian hops, which are renowned for the zesty aromas and flavours they impart to beers. In April 2005 we filled this special batch of beer into 100 hand selected ‘first ‘fill’ Bourbon Casks to begin a unique transformation in flavour and complexity. 107 Days later we emptied the precious beer from these casks, each one displaying its own unique character, and blended them back together to marry the exceptional flavours and develop yet further the natural carbonation. We finally bottled this beer in September 2005, after a total of 154 Days. And because we matured it for much longer the casks have had greater influence on the flavour; this unique alchemy has created a beer with a sublime balance of flavours, textures and aroma cannot be found in ordinary beers. This bottle is one of only 50,000 in existence.”

Appearance: Nice dark amber body interspersed with splashes of dark orange and rich copper red diffractions when held to the sunlight. A nice creamy head rises from the initial pour; I used a straight sided Wakefield CAMRA 2005 Beer Festival half pint glass. Retention is admirable, but eventually the ½” tight creamy cap slackens off to a thick beige creamy ring with a thing surface. Lots of conditioning in this one though despite the failing head after time.

Nose: Rounded with plenty of soft melted aromas. The vanilla is obvious; the bourbon is reticent to dominate whilst dark fruits and alcohol soaked French oak stain the back end. Sprinkles of freshly squeezed Lemon halves lend a spritzy sharp aspect too. Accomplished.

Taste: Gorgeous complex yet mellow profile. Starts with a fruity entrance, bold malts benefit from a chocolate coated McVitie's digestive biscuit feel. Hints of chocolate that are alluded to on the label are there, but they are low key. The orange in the start turns to lemon in the finish. Bourbon coast the throat in the finish, but it is far from overpowering, soft mellow and with a soupcon of vanilla bean to add a fuzzy edge. Dry at times with long lived tastes in and after the lingering finish. After a few mouthfuls, the hops buzz the cheeks a few seconds after the swallow. Expertly done.

Mouthfeel: The 7.2% is nowhere to be found, hidden in the rich mature complexity and I suspect expertly so, rather than by accident. Closer to room temperature the alcohol does start to become detectable, but you have to hunt for it.

Drinkability: As with the 2204, my thoughts are exactly the same. Oak-aged beers are so often overpowering and unbalanced, heavy on the whisky/bourbon and not that drinkable. But this…..oh my…..it is nothing short of supremely balanced, infused rather than soaked, delicately refined and incredibly well-balanced and mature with massive eye, nose and throat appeal. A stunningly beautiful creation that begs to be imbibed. Someone should tell them to bottle this in bigger bottles, it drinks far too well.

Overall: Not all Barrel Aging is OTT, this example is a case in point of when it is done right. I still completely disagree with the advice on the Presentation Box that this should be served chilled, it seems to come alive as it warms and reaches cellar temperature then beyond, lightly chilled maybe, but the warmer the better for me.

Another *154* Day Oak-Aged Thanks to Sir Ian of the Keighley for this one, much appreciated Mr. BSF. Stock up on this if you can. Great stuff !
Apr 30, 2006
Photo of GreenCard
Reviewed by GreenCard from Maryland

3.94/5  rDev -10.5%
look: 4 | smell: 5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5
Appearance: deep amber, great clarity, narrow layer of off-white suds that shrivel to a thin crown

Aroma: lush bloom of whiskey notes, vanilla, hint of sherry, coconut, orange

Flavor: found malt sweetness with notes of vanilla, coconut, orange, and oak; not much bitterness to speak of (just a bit in the aftertaste); finishes malty sweet with whiskey overtones

Mouthfeel: medium-full body, silky soft texture, mellow carbonation

Other comments: Quite an interesting one. It's like a sweet, low alcohol, slightly fizzy fine whiskey. Not sure if the "Limited Edition" is any different than the regular Innis & Gunn because I've only tried this one.
Jan 12, 2006
Photo of mdagnew
Reviewed by mdagnew from Northern Ireland

4.34/5  rDev -1.4%
look: 4 | smell: 5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5
330ml Bottle bought from Sainsburys...

Poured a dark golden / rusty orange colour... Slightly off white head pours quite big and foamy and fades to a nice layer..

Aroma - Oaky, woody, quite sweet, definite whiskey notes, raisins, over ripe bananas...

Taste – Quite sweet, nutty, strong alcohol notes, spicy, vanilla, raisins, nice biscuit maltiness, buttery...

Feel - Quite smooth. Medium body.... Pretty drinkable...

Overall - An excellent beer... Highly recommended...
Jan 09, 2006
Photo of RedwoodGeorge
Reviewed by RedwoodGeorge from California

4.55/5  rDev +3.4%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 5
The beer comes in a clear glass bottle so (I'm assuming) to avoid skunking the bottle comes in a cardboard box. Excessive packaging or an opportunity for more commentary from the brewer? I vote the latter as they're plenty of interesting text on how the beer is aged in oak barrels for 107 days (it seems 108 would have been too much ;-)

The beer pours a deep mahogany brown with a thick, sticky head. Held up to the light it's a dark, dark red in color. The head is quite persistant and leaves a lot of lacing on the inside of the glass.

The nose is quite unlike anything I've experienced before; it's got so many notes of scotch whiskey that it's quite a surprise. There are fruity hints in the nose but there's a predominant note of malt, alcohol and oak.

The flavor is staggering - both in its strength and in the difficulty in description. This is a very, very flavorful beer; no matter what the ABV it certainly qualifies as "big" For an imprecise beginning in describing the taste it's as if a typical English Pale Ale was reduced (water removed) to double the strength. Big bold fruit notes. Huge shot of malted barley. I could swear it's as if someone put a half-shot of good whiskey into an English Pale Ale. Very prominent alcohol notes - it's quite 'rough' but that actually works well for someone who enjoys their whiskey neat. For all the malty hugeness there's a pretty reasonable hop flavor - some good bittering to keep things in line. The hops are apparently Slovenian but they're still noble hops quite similar to Fuggles or Golding.

Mouthfeel is fine - there's some residual carbonation to keep the effervesence up and not much of an oily coating on the tongue. Bitterness is restrained but enough to add balance. The more prominent experience is the alcohol burn which is somewhat surprising for a 7.2 ABV brew. Again, very remiscent of a BPA/scotch whiskey hybrid.

Drinkability is a hard one to define... This is a really, really fine brew and I'm sad I don't have more than one. (It'll sure go on my 'wants' list) On the other hand it's a very strong tasting beer and quite an 'experience' - not a casual drinking beer at all. I suspect I could drink three or four of these every year but I'd savor each and every one of them. I can only suspect that cellaring would do incredible things with this brew - despite the "best by" date of twelve months.

[much gratitude to rapopoda for this unique beer brought back from the UK]
Dec 07, 2005
Photo of wl0307
Reviewed by wl0307 from England

4.47/5  rDev +1.6%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5
Here comes the 2005 limited edition~ This time they seem to use a different recipe with roasted barley and Slovenian Goldings, and extend the maturation period to 154 days in total--double the time for the standard Innis & Gunn as well as its 2004 edition, hence the higher alc. content as well: 7.2%abv. The BB date is NOV 06.

A: pours a perfectly clear, light ruby hue, with an off-white beer head coming thick and foamy, but the retention is just o.k. Pretty tight lacing though. Medium to gently carbonated.
S: the mellow scent of oak barrels is even more pronounced yet softer in terms of texture than the standard version of Innis & Gunn--vanilla is there, but surprisingly other exotic fruity aroma find their way into this beer as well, such as mango juice, preserved pineapple, Xinjiang sweet melon, sweet peach, and a touch of sweetened citron tea, but all these elements are mixed together skilfully and bring forward a complex fruity theme to accompany the overall oaky note and semi-sweetish malty backbone. Exceptional I must say.
T: incredibly smooth on the palate... the juicy flavour is colourful yet lands on the tongue with the lightest touch, bringing on board a very mildly chocolatey maltiness, peach-like soft fruity flavour, decorated with softened, mildly sweet vanilla-flavour of oak barrels, with a restrained spicy hoppy taste at the back of the palate; leaving a long finish with a slightly biscuity maltiness and residual tangerine-like fruitiness left on the sides of the tongue, while attenuated bitterness and a ooh-long tea-like, slightly tannic, dryish and tangy texture sustains until the very end of tasting. Despite being 7.2%abv., the texture is so mellow, and light, only in the very end a slowly intensifying mouthfeel, due to its alc. content I believe, is revealed. The mouthfeel is just silky smooth and rounded, without going too light for its medium body.
D: more mellow and subtle than the standard beer bearing the same name, though the basic similarities are still there. However, I can't quite clearly identify the chocolatey flavour and aroma so much stressed on the package of this bottle, and I believe the subtle oaky flavour has probably softened the presumably more assertive chocolatey elements? All in all, this is another brilliant brew by Caledonian and I do think it can get appreciated by a wider audience given a right marketing strategy~~ Highly recommended.
Oct 27, 2005
Limited Edition 2005 from Innis & Gunn
Beer rating: 4.4 out of 5 with 6 ratings