TAKING THE WATER

At around the time of my birthday in November I am asked what I want for birthday and Xmas. The usual response is  

"Beer".

" OK what beer ?"

 "Well get me some of that Innis & Gunn you usually get me."

 And so it is I will drink some of their beers around this time of year, and then that's it till the cycle starts again in November. I never see their beers in pubs or at beer festivals, only ever in bottles in supermarkets. Some even come in a special box. There must be some in  pubs somewhere, probably up in Scotland where it is brewed.

So where is it brewed ? That used to be a mystery. Although they are registered in Edinburgh it has always been the case that their stuff was brewed by "an unnamed brewery". Doing it a bit of digging this time round the beer is brewed by Tennants in Glasgow.

So what do they sell. Perhaps the most iconic is their Oak Aged Beer, which as the name suggests is brewed in oak casks. A one I got in a box is Hopped Bourbon Cask Ale. I haven't opened it yet but the tasting notes say there should be an aroma of Turkish Delight (?)

 

Anyhow, to get to the point of all this, I was looking in a supermarket to see what other Innis & Gunn beers were available and found some in cardboard boxes (  see photo). It appears that last year they launched a crowdfunding scheme to raise some cash. This was after they had bought the Inveralmond Brewery in Perth in April 2016.

When I Googled the crowdfunding story my mind was completely blown by another story  - that they had been catching rainwater to brew a new beer !  It was how they did it that got me checking the calendar to make sure it wasn't April 1st. 

Apparently four people travelled to The Devils Beef Tub, near Moffat in Dumfries and Galloway and collected 500 pints of cloud water. ( which by my crude maths is over 1/4 of a ton!!).  The resultant product is called Sky IPA.

see link in case you don't believe me :- RAINING BEER

At first I thought they were taking the piss but no, they were taking the water !