Random wood

The strong barrel aged beers from Founders have been around for ages, but other than the stouts I haven't paid them much mind. The wife ordered a Dankwood when it was on in Underdog a while back, so of course I had to have a taste.

The base beer is a red IPA but there's precious little sign of any hop character left. From the murky brown body comes an aroma which is all oak and booze. I got sherry and bourbon from the flavour, but none of the good stuff: it's a cheap and harsh burn, leaving no doubt about the 12.2% ABV. It could be more. There's plenty of vanilla, but again it's unsubtle, jarringly sweet rather than smooth and mellow.

Overall I got a watered-down KBS vibe from this. It's possible the base beer wasn't big enough to survive the onslaught from the oak. There may be a reason that barrel-aged red IPAs are rare.

I've been enjoying the recent trend for tequila barrel aged beers. I like the occasional tequila, and the combination of tangy fruit, oak and booze that the casks impart in beer -- especially dry styles like saison -- sits well with me. So I was interested when I saw Founders had tequila-aged something they describe as an "imperial lime gose" brewed with agave. The result is called Más Agave and is 10% ABV.

Dry it ain't, however. The aroma set off alarm bells as soon as I started pouring, smelling horribly sickly, like lemon drops or undiluted lime cordial. Thankfully, balance kicks in somewhat on tasting. It's still a heavy, syrupy beast, though: low on carbonation and leaving a sugary residue in the mouth after swallowing. The flavour is cleaner fun, however. There's the unmistakable tang of real tequila, given a generous squeeze of lemon and, because of the gose heritage, you get a lick of salt as well.

I'll admit I was expecting something mellower. This is a bit of a busy confection and there's none of the oaky smoothness one might expect from any kind of barrel. It's fun, though. Just don't take it seriously.