I sincerely hope Innis & Gunn’s Canada Day Scottish Oak Aged Beer (matured 49 days) brew sticks around for the summer, at least past Canada Day its self, because it was one of the tastiest and strongest (7.7%) I’ve had in a Glasgow minute.

Alongside Ale Malt, they added Aromatic Barley Malt which imparts the beer’s rich toffee colour and satisfying maltiness. They also used Goldings hops from three farms in East Kent to give the beer a bitterness to balance out the core malt sweetness. They then  used slowly oak matured the beer to unlock the delicious flavours of vanilla and toffee locked inside the oak grain. What this means in english is an incredibly well balanced beer with rich graham cracker taste, seen sometimes in fall pumpkin-flavoured brews with a distinctive bitterness and subtle fruit flavours.

Official Tasting Notes

Nose: Oak, toffee

Colour: Auburn

Palate: Creamy, with toffee and oak, complemented by a vibrant, spicy Fuggles hop bitterness. Warms and mellows on the palate revealing a delicious malty character with hints of vanilla.

Finish: Biscuit malt and vanilla mellowing with time, balanced by an earthy hop bitterness.

Food Matches: Try with maple-glazed cedar plank salmon or alongside delicious nutty cheeses, such as Gouda.

The packaging for this year’s Canada Day beer has been created by Canadian artist Gary Whitley who won this year’s Innis & Gunn art competition. Being a proud Canadian, Gary was inspired to use the national emblem, the leaf of the Sugar Maple with its distinctive shape and vibrant colour, to add a sense of both drama and fun to his iconic piece.

Gary Whitley has been a professional artist for more than 30 years. His work, which takes inspiration from the great Canadian outdoors, is exhibited across the state of British Columbia and has seen him chosen as a Signature Member of the Society of Canadian Artists. We are proud to showcase his outstanding work in celebration of Canada’s national day.