Review: Innis & Gunn Caribbean Rum Cask

Today's sampling is Innis & Gunn's Caribbean Rum Cask Ruby Red Ale. This is the first Innis & Gunn beer I've ever reviewed that was brewed in Canada.. which from what I've read (as recent as 2023) was at Toronto's Brunswick Bierworks, but it may have changed since then.

From the can: This is a beer to be savoured. It is Caribbean Rum Cask matured for spiciness and richness of flavour. Aromas of Demerara, dried fruits and spice, warming malt character with hints of vanilla and oak. The bitterness is understated leaving plenty of room for a long spicy-sweet finish. 6.8% ABV

Appearance: Deep, dark with a ruby red hue to it.. which, yeah, describes how the beer is. The head is fairly light yet creamy with a light beige hue to it. 

Aroma: Deep caramel aromas, notes of toffee, a hint of woodiness, a hint of vanilla, plum. Not noticeably rummy at all, but just straight forward and reminiscen of I&G beers of the past.

Taste: I was expecting it to be boozy for my first impression, but it was actually a kind of woody and slightly smoked presence to it. It’s got a caramel sweetness to it, a bit of dark fruit (plum/raisin), the faintest amount of vanilla, and lastly a hint of a dark stout kind of bitterness at the end.

Overall Thoughts: It’s alright, I was expecting more of the rum cask to come out, but overall it’s a toffee-forward dark red ale, was hoping for a bit more from this but this is something that wouldn’t hurt the palate of someone who isn’t ready to check out dark beer but has to start somewhere.