Innis & Gunn to buy Inveralmond Brewery

[MickDundee]

http://www.thecourier.co.uk/business/news/innis-gunn-buys-inveralmond-brewery-in-3-1-million-deal-1.932751


I have mixed views about this. I like I&G beers but Inveralmond are one of my favourite breweries. If they can increase distribution without messing about with the beers then I'm for it, but I can't help thinking I&G might want to experiment a bit!

 

[ezraburke]

I can't dislike this enough - I&G are charlatans of the highest order (their beer is literally Tennents aged in oak casks - honestly, go check it out!) and acquiring a brewery that produces other varieties will only lead to them claiming more 'craft' status with their 'beer'.

If they ruin Ossian i will be not best pleased.

 

[MyQul]

I wonder if it is ever a good thing when a larger brewery aquires a smaller (craft) one? As Ezra have said it seems it's now often done to aquire a ring of 'craft authenticity'. I'm not particulaly a big fan of the Guinness brewery (despite Guinness being my first beer) but good on them for having a go at making there own craft beer (west indies and dublin porters) to try an break into that area of the market rather than just buying an established craft brewey

 

[Brew_DD2]

The guys at Inveralmond are great but I got the feeling they didn't know how to grow their business. Their Rascal London Porter is superb and I will be majorly annoyed if it disappears.

I&G recently opened a brewpub in Dundee as well. Cashing in on the craft beer trend it seems.

 

[MickDundee]

The guys at Inveralmond are great but I got the feeling they didn't know how to grow their business. Their Rascal London Porter is superb and I will be majorly annoyed if it disappears.

I&G recently opened a brewpub in Dundee as well. Cashing in on the craft beer trend it seems.

I've never met them but I got that impression at Christmas when I spent several weeks trying to get hold of some bottles of Santa's Swallie - and I work in Perth! I tried every supermarket in Dundee and Perth that I could think of, and sent my wife to Morrisons in Arbroath in case they had it. I got to the point of deciding to get the bus along to the brewery at lunchtime when I remembered a little off license on Kinnoull St that has a big selection of beer and cleared them out of their last 8 bottles!

 

[Robin54]

Interesting stuff.. I didn't know the I and G stuff you described.....so will give them a miss

 

[wfr42]

I quite enjoyed a recent night in the Edinburgh I&G beer kitchen, especially after the after work crowd left. I was drinking the offerings from 6 north and lagunitas apart from a half of their wheat beer.

I've enjoyed their beers as a novelty but would still opt for a guest ale over one of their bottles.

 

[Hoppyland]

Funnily enough, I'd never heard of Innis & Gunn until this week, when I bought 4 cans of their lager from the Co-op in Portree for £5.
An odd thing for me to do, perhaps, as I don't normally go for lager, but I was swayed by the "craft beer", "brewed in small batches" "brewed with naked Scottish oats" guff on the can.
Now, I'm no lager connoisseur, but I thought it was very poor. For 4.6% ABV, it was very thin in the body. I'd expected a crisp beer, but with detectable malt flavour - but this to me was as satisfying as Carling or Carlsberg: bland, inoffensive and very lacking in character. Same with the hops. It must have had hops in it, I presume, but you wouldn't really know :-?.
To me, the only thing to distinguish it from bulk-pack supermarket lagers was the fact that it was double the price!
Let's hope they allow Inveralmond to keep up their quality & not be overtaken by the accountants.

 

[ezraburke]

Funnily enough, I'd never heard of Innis & Gunn until this week, when I bought 4 cans of their lager from the Co-op in Portree for £5.
An odd thing for me to do, perhaps, as I don't normally go for lager, but I was swayed by the "craft beer", "brewed in small batches" "brewed with naked Scottish oats" guff on the can.
Now, I'm no lager connoisseur, but I thought it was very poor. For 4.6% ABV, it was very thin in the body. I'd expected a crisp beer, but with detectable malt flavour - but this to me was as satisfying as Carling or Carlsberg: bland, inoffensive and very lacking in character. Same with the hops. It must have had hops in it, I presume, but you wouldn't really know :-?.
To me, the only thing to distinguish it from bulk-pack supermarket lagers was the fact that it was double the price!
Let's hope they allow Inveralmond to keep up their quality & not be overtaken by the accountants.

And you'd be right in claiming it's thin and weak - it's Tennents lager.

I didn't know this until recently but they get their brew from the Tennents brewery and then leave it in oak cask (or rum cask) to age before bottling it. It's flavoured Tennents and repackaged to look 'craft'.

Sent from my HTC One_M8 using Tapatalk

 

[Demig]

I wonder if it is ever a good thing when a larger brewery aquires a smaller (craft) one? As Ezra have said it seems it's now often done to aquire a ring of 'craft authenticity'. I'm not particulaly a big fan of the Guinness brewery (despite Guinness being my first beer) but good on them for having a go at making there own craft beer (west indies and dublin porters) to try an break into that area of the market rather than just buying an established craft brewey

Quite like the West Indies one :) I used to work for a company that had an office in their brewery as they had a lot of our kit in the labs. Made for some interesting sales meetings!

 

[wfr42]

I worked at a bar over the summer as I was between contracts. When ever I see a Belhaven pub with their "own" craft lager I smile to myself knowing it's just the same lager as every other "own" craft lager in every Belhaven pub.

Haven't classed myself as a lager drinker for a long time but never rated innes and gunn lager and was surprised how popular it was over the summer.

 

[MickDundee]

I worked at a bar over the summer as I was between contracts. When ever I see a Belhaven pub with their "own" craft lager I smile to myself knowing it's just the same lager as every other "own" craft lager in every Belhaven pub.

Haven't classed myself as a lager drinker for a long time but never rated innes and gunn lager and was surprised how popular it was over the summer.

Lots of pubs have that kind of deal going on. Inveralmond even do it - the Glenisla Hotel's "own" beer is just Nimbus (I think although it might be Ossian - it was my dad that told me).

 

[Spoon]

Just to go against the grain, I really like most of the Innis and Gunn beers, some are a bit watery and crap but others have been really good.

Suspect they have good accountants/sales people though, the stuff they sell to lidl often seems nowhere near as good as the stronger/older stuff from off licences and other supermarkets.

Could be a good thing, 'craft beer', aged.

 

[Brew_DD2]

It was very much a gateway beer for me years ago. I had one a few months back and couldn't get over how sweet the standard "barrel-aged" beer was.

Either my tastebuds have really developed or the recipe went South when Tennent's increased their influence.

 

[Hops_and_Dreams]

SWMBO often brings home a few beers if she's shopping, ones that she's not seen me drink before. Unfortunately one of these was an Innis & Gunn recently. Apart from the fact that it was flavoured with bourbon, it sounded promising on the label, hopped with Amarillo and either Citra or Cascade (I think). I was probably one of the worst beers I've ever tasted and I really don't get the point of it. It just tasted of whisky or, more accurately, like JD and coke without the sweetness.

I like beer. I like whisky. Just not at the same time.