Rickard's Oakhouse - Molson Coors (Canada)

Rickard's Oakhouse - Molson-Coors (Canada) 5.5%

A really nice, light vanilla, brown sugar sweetness and slightly spicy oak aroma to this beer which pours a brass colour in a glass. Lots of oak in the taste with that same malty brown sugar-like sweetness, and some baking spices mixed in there for good measure. However, after the initial drink, much of the sweetness fades and is a touch overpowered by the oak. The oakiness, which can be a touch on the tangy side naturally, mixes with the hops to form a slightly sour taste.

The beer I immediately think of when I think of oak done right is Innis and Gunn's line of barrel aged brews. Each of them are much sweeter, higher in alcohol than Oakhouse and are ales rather than a lager. The sweeter and more robust malt flavours in an Innis and Gunn balance the barrel tones; and the body of an ale seems better suited to carrying those wood flavours than the thinner, less robust body of a lager.

I have very much enjoyed some other Rickard's seasonals produced by Molson-Coors but while this one delivers on the promised oak flavour, the rest of the beer simply does not have the legs to carry these pronounced oak tones.