Prizes. Better start picking some prizes. But there are samples building up, too. Better opens some samples. Good thing I have tomorrow off.

First the beer. I have reviewed at least three Innis + Gunn beers and I have a sense what to expect: rounded, juicy, well balanced and tasty malt without a little acid or something yeasty to make it twing. Easy. Is that a prejudice? Could be. It's well represented here in Ontario but there is a bit of a price tag. Is that, too, a prejudice? Mr. B has recently noted unexpected things. Let's see what is going on.

♦ Original: at three bucks for a small bottle, this brew has flickers of peach and walnut in a pretty smooth caramel sip. Vanilla in the nose and in the mouth is there... and there and there, too... but this is that white ice cream covered with other tasty things. Accessible and moreish at 6.6%.
♦ Winter Beer 2011: available in the holiday pack, I haven't a separate price per bottle. A similar quiet scent. There is cola, rum, cardamon and nutmeg in a subdued rounded malty brew. I think I like the Original better. I don't get the orange zest as mentioned on the label. There is a little burnt note where that might sit. 7.4%.
♦ Spiced Rum Finish: I am not sure if this beer is the same as rum cask. Maybe not. A rather elaborate portfolio. Again, a subdued sniff that asks for a quaff of moreish soft water maltiness. More huskiness if that is an available adjective with these beers. Spices are better integrated. Cinnamon and maybe white pepper at 6.9%. There is a dryness competing with the light sweetness that is the signature of the line. I like it. It is still a bit toffee-ish but nicely cut with the dry spice.
♦ Highland Cask: This is the beer himself liked. Again, the nose has to go a long way into the glass to get aroma. In the mouth, more vanilla and caramel with a bit of a bumped up volume. I opened these beer in the right order. There is another sort of dry that is less cutting, sort of a brushy woodland floor thing. There is caramel but it is neither burnt or cloyingly flaccid. I like the "stewed fruit" description. There might be a bit of mushroom or even oolong. It is still within the brewery's blanket of comfort zone but I like what is happening. A nickle under five bucks at 6.9%. Worth it.

What have we learned? This line of beers have been around a long time now and maybe it's time to admit that they are not resting on their idea of a sweet round filtered cask beer but are dedicated to tasty roundness that is accessible and interesting. I am as guilty as the next person in thinking these are brand before brew. I pass them. But I like these explorations of malt. I like these beers. Have a try.

Contest awards in a minute... OK, let's see on the second attempt if I can still create a table in HTML-like code.

Picture	Artist / Reasons	Prize / Mailer
	Ed Carson of Pennsylvania for capturing his wait for Lew and that prize at the Gray Lodge.	Shipyard Brewing Portland, Maine
	Joe Stange Costa Rica for a seasonal remembrance of beer nog.	All About Beer magazine subscription
	The Beer Nut of Ireland for besting Degas.	An evening hosting Ron Pattinson
	Peter Collins Cambridge Ontario for capturing glow.	Subscription TAPS The Beer Magazine
	Tom Cizauskas for capturing ye olde pub in a modern setting.	Martyn Cornell Amber Gold + Black
	Alistair Reece of Virginia for the reminder of beer just past... and the light.	Narragansett Brewing prize pack
	Dan James of PEI for that purple.	Subscription TAPS The Beer Magazine
	Mark Michalski of Somewhere, USA for the simple truth about cheap beer and crab.	33 Journal 6 Book Set
	Jerry Davison of Illinois for that shade of green.	Shipyard Brewing Portland, Maine
	Michael Bank of Vermont for the magic of a kölschkranz in motion.	Beer and Economics Oxford University Press

Did that work? It worked? More prizes tomorrow.