Frank & Sense
Innis & Gunn

Copenhagen 29/11 2018. 50 cl bottle from Meny, Østerfælled Torv, Kbh Ø. Starry label with writing in gold promising me beer maturing in a bonanza of Christmas spices.

Pours hazy amber with a quite big white head. Settles as thin, flimsy layer of foam barely able to cover the surface of the beer. Moderate lacing.

Aroma is fruity, spicy and a little sugary. Slightly fermented sweet berries, some woody quality, white sugar. Light alcohol odor.

Light carbonation. Slightly thick and slightly flat texture.

Flavor is fairly sweet followed by medium bitterness. Aftertaste is bitter and spicy and with a tang of something burnt. Lingers for a bit. Semi-dry finish.

A typical Innis & Gunn take on a Christmas Beer. Oaky, sweet and spicy.

A: clear golden amber with light but active carbonation, minimal head
S: Malty nose, some astringent notes.
T: Bready malt, mild sweetness and a measured bitterness. Slightly floral. Some spicy notes which were unexpected but very welcome. Lemony/resiny aftertaste.
F: medium-light body; crisp, fresh finish.

 

I bought this beer at lcbo and drank 1 the next day drank another the beer is very good nice flavored citrus taste went down good but will never buy again at $7.95 a bottle that's way overpriced I think maybe at 3.95 a bottle would be more reasonable.

500 mL bottle wrapped with paper & twine, purchased at the LCBO; best before Dec 2020 and served at cellar temperature.

Pours a clear golden colour, producing one finger of loose, frothy white head that settles off in less than two minutes' time. A soapy collar of bubbly foam lives on, with a few swaths of lace also having been tossed about; looks like a classic English pub ale, and the aroma is along the same lines. I'm getting some leafy, floral hop notes, as well as notes of butterscotch toffee and bready pale malt sweetness; hints of orchard fruit and spiciness round the nose off nicely. It does seem to have a mildly perfume-y resin quality, which I can only attribute to the myrrh/frankincense.

It's a fine golden ale, though I wouldn't say the maturation process justifies its price. It tastes of bready, doughy pale malts, orchard fruits and light toffee sweetness, paired together with some tea-leafy hop bitterness on the back end; hints of spice and resin flirt briefly with the taste buds into the aftertaste. Light-medium in body, with low carbonation and a smooth, somewhat slick texture on the tongue; excellent drinkability.

Final Grade: 3.90, a B+. I passed on Frank & Sense the last time it came around these parts - partially because I doubted it would be worth the cost, but also because it struck me as kind of silly. I mean, gold is not soluble in water, so I would not expect it to impart any flavour at all, and the other two ingredients are basically incense - and while I'm sure they smell nice, they're not exactly food. That was a long-winded way of saying that this is an unabashedly gimmicky I&G product, and I doubt I'd buy it again at its current price. Even still, it's a well-brewed English-style ale, and anyone with a fondness for that type of thing can consider this to be a safe (albeit expensive) pick-up.

Bought at LCBO 12/2019.Poured into a classic pint glass.Beer looks almost as orange as the paper wrap.Citrus in aroma and taste.A bit sour in the throat.Slightly tart to the palate.Speciality ale for sure,to be tasted at least once in a lifetime,most points going for its originality.

Excessive packaging, great smell, clean and smooth mouth feel, and phenomenal, golden almost fruity taste. A great light tasting reprieve from winter's heavy stouts. Surprising to say the least.

 

 

I bought a bottle of this before Christmas and forgot I had it. It pours crystal clear, slightly darker than lager and has a sweetish, citrus aroma. The taste is quite harsh and a bit sickly. It has a really strong aftertaste that’s a bit off putting. It was apparently “matured over Gold, Frankincense and Myrrh”. I had to look the other two up because, although I’ve heard them as part of the Nativity since I was a kid, I didn’t know what they were. So, it turns out that both are apparently some gum resins from trees in Africa now used in the essential oil industry.

My advice, keep it away from beers.

 

 

Copper and filtered with almost no carbonation, and topped with 4 fingers of yellow tinged head. The head leaves a nice lacing.

Smells of toasted malts, oranges, frankincense for sure as I used to burn it at Christmas and take the essential oil. Not as sure how myrrh smells, but a very fragrant wood sappy smell, almost of cedar is in there as well.

Totally tastes like an English Pale Ale, with a boost from the additional ingredients. The most striking features that make it different from others in the style are a sharp, almost wood like bitterness that lingers hard on the tongue, as well as a slightly sourdough quality that is prevalent. There are hints of orange blossom, and a good biscuit quality as well.

Light body, dry and tannic finish, with minimal carbonation.

Got this in Bracebridge LCBO, drinking Christmas Evening, Dec 25th 2017, in St Jean Port Joli, Quebec. Wasn't sure what to expect but went for any Christmas beer I could find in Ontario. I love the idea behind this brew, and so for that and its execution I think its a great beer.

Review from notes. LCBO purchase inside some specialty wrapped parchment / paper. Cost was $7.95. Served cold into a tulip.

Appearance - brilliant gold color, multiple fingers of head, great clarity, head retention, a good looking beer.

Smell - Earthy hops with fruity aspects, decidedly English in style. Some subtle spices and I'm not 100% sure about the frankincense and myrrh, but whatever they contribute to this beer, it helps.

Taste - Moderately bitter, light fruitiness with orchard fruits leading the way and finishes with a leafy bitter hop bill. Some malt through to give it a grainy taste as well. A touch of exotic spice adds just enough to separate this from the pretenders. Really good pale ale.

Mouthfeel - Smooth with medium-light body, moderate carbonation and a very dry finish.

Overall -A pleasant surprise. Had my doubts about this one, but finally Innis & Gunn has created an $8 pale ale, that I may purchase again.

 

 

 

500ml, paper-wrapped bottle - a so-called festive brew, made with gold, frankincense, and myrrh, apparently. Pretty inexpensive, if it really was.

This beer pours a slightly hazy, medium golden yellow colour, with a teeming tower of puffy, loosely foamy, and bubbly off-white head, which leaves some layered and disfigured streaky lace around the glass as it slowly but surely abates.

It smells of semi-sweet, grainy and doughy pale malt, some estery floral character, a bit of flinty stoniness, faint juicy citrus notes, and further leafy, earthy, and herbal green hop bitters. The taste is bready and doughy caramel malt, a lesser cereal graininess, more bitter florals, some strange fragrant spiciness, an edgy and soapy minerality, muddled domestic citrus flesh, and more leafy, weedy, and musky herbal verdant hoppiness.

The carbonation is average in its palate-pinging frothiness, the body a decent middleweight, and more or less smooth, with just a touch of hop acridity (I can't believe that I'm writing this) maybe messing with the ideal here. It finishes off-dry, the malt steadfastly persisting, among the heady lingering floral essences.

Overall - yeah, this is a bit of an odd bird, in that I'm not yet convinced that they actually used any of the (really) old-school ingredients, mostly because their purported qualities do not differ all that much from any variety of modern hops. Besides all that, this is indeed a tasty brew, nice and bitter, yet balanced. Worth checking out, no matter the seasonal connotations.

A- Love the bag this beer comes in and again, love the simple labelling to go along with it! The beer itself pours a heavy golden color with coppery orange hues....mainly transparent with perhaps some chill hazing. The head is very frothy and dense, off white in color with an array of tight tiny bubbles all congregating together! Lacing appears very well too with a good assortment of thick filmy foam clinging to the side of the glass! A superb looking brew!

S- A large floral aroma is present to my nostrils, along with plenty of crisp hop bitterness and caramel malts to help balance things out. In terms of sweetness, muted honey, aromatic and exotic spice, rounded oak subtleness and yeast/bread/biscuit wholesomeness. The finish is clean and refreshing. Overall a very nice Golden Ale!

T- There is most definitely a clean citrus flavor right up at the front of the taste, alongside soapy notes for some reason. There is also a leafy green vegetable/herbal character and heavily floral hops that make this dry from start to finish, and provide a cleansing finish that lingers well after the taste. I do again get some caramel/toffee/honeyed sweetness, aromatic spice that I haven't really encountered before and the oaked process provides a little bit of a woody/Earthy flavor. I am really enjoying this unique flavor profile!

M/O- Light and crisp on the palate, this is a slightly tart, flavorful golden Ale that is quite different than what is out in the market and I think the Gold, Frankincense and Myrrh add a very different (in a good way) spin on this style. I find it highly drinkable and the more I'm getting into it, the more I'm enjoying it. This is the experimental homerun that I expect from I&G! Nice work!